-- you had tations that is not in play anymore. in terms of, you know, i do not know this is a solution. i think the real problem is we as an electorate -- we do not realize that we are the government. we like to pick the government as something separate from us. we like to look at politics and governing as something separate from us. we a nor the fact that there is politics in every area of our lives. there is certainly a pressure on people today that where their employer is sort of dictates their politics.

or whatever their position is financially sort of dictates their politics. you had this notion of disinterest, not meaning you were not interested. many looked at not just your interest. host: independent color craig, what are your thoughts as we wrap up the program? caller: thank you very much. i think the electorate has failed, but the media has been complicit by knowingly and unknowingly, depending on the network, repeating lies that the candidates made, when something like, you know that someone says that hillary is abolishing the second amendment. that has bend amongst. -- that has been debunked. it is not true. yet the media will state that they has said this, and will say this several times throughout the day. so when a debunked lie is repeated over and over again,

and someone just hears it over and over again, you think, this is said a lot. this must be an issue. and what the issue should be is they should say mr. trump has been to three states and four cities in each state in the last two days, and he has repeated the same lie over and over again. that should be the new story. ist should be what the media focusing on -- telling something that is true, not just repeating a lie. even npr does this same thing. so afraid of losing their funding. it is just some of the comics and a few people, like in , where on npr -- i cannot think of his name right now. colin mcenroe. it is some people that have the courage to say something. but most of the people are just afraid, and they will let ignorance rain -- reign.

and it is the media's responsibility to not let ignorance reign. and yes, it has been the full of education, but it has been full of other people, like when karl rove discovered that it was possible to present one issue that is emotional, and therefore have everyone base their entire vote on an emotional appeal. you know, the media should be doing something here, and they are not. host: craig, thank you for calling. a little bit after 10:00 in the east, in washington, d.c. thank you for joining us on "washington journal," 7:00 each day, live news with your calls. we will continue to do this right up to and through the election four days from now, on tuesday, november 8. hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and we will see you back here tomorrow.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] u.s. employers added 161,000 jobs in october. the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9% from 5%. this was the final major report on the economy before the election next week. the labor department also says average hourly pay increased last month by $.10 an hour, to an average of $25.92, nearly 3% higher than a year ago. it is the biggest 12 month increase in seven years. the late justice antonin scalia will be honored at a special meeting of the supreme court bar this afternoon, in the courts great hall. we are planning to bring that to you live, starting at 1:45 eastern. speakers include the acting solicitor general and several of former justice scalia's law clerks. that starts at 1:45 eastern here

on c-span. hillary clinton is campaigning in pennsylvania and michigan. we will have that rally for you live later this afternoon in detroit, scheduled to start at 5:15 eastern. donald trump will also be campaigning. he is in new hampshire and pennsylvania, at hershey, pennsylvania, at the giant center this evening. it starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern. election night on c-span. watch the results and be part of a national conversation about the outcome. be on location of the hillary clinton and donald trump election night headquarters, and watch victory and concession startingin key races, live at 8:00 p.m. eastern and throughout the following 24 hours. watch live on c-span, on demand at c-span.org, or listen to our live coverage with the free c-span radio app. >> the race for new york's 22nd

congressional district is tight. a new poll shows republican claudia tenney with 38% of likely voters to democrat kim myers's 34%. martin babinec of the upstate jobs party has 16%. byy met at a debate hosted debbie public media and the league of women voters of new york state broome and tioga counties, to discuss social security, the affordable care act, and the economy. this is about an hour. the upstate economy, gun control, the opioid epidemic, federal finances, and presidential politics are some of the election issues we may discuss tonight. good evening. i am crystal sarakas. this is new york 22, a league of women voters debate. thank you to our live studio audience for joining us, and to those of you who are watching and listening at home on wskg radio. on ws qnx

tonight's debate is between upstate jobs party candidate martin babinec, democratic candidate kim myers, and republican candidate claudia tenney. the general election on november 8 will decide which of these candidates will replace gop congressman richard hanna, who is retiring. the candidates will then take turns answering questions, and will have two minutes to respond to each question. closing statements will be one minute each. as moderator, i reserve the right to ask follow-up questions. we are taking questions from our live audience, our tv and radio audience may also submit questions through twitter.

if a candidate exceeds the time limit, a member of the league of women voters will read the bill. theoaming the bill -- ring bell. i asked the audience to reserve all applause until the end of the debate. before we started, we drew straws to determine the order in which the candidates will make their opening statements. ms. tenney, you go first. saytenney: i wanted to thank you to wskg and especially the league of women voters for giving the voters an opportunity to hear from all the candidates at the special. really an honor to be here. i would also like to commend my opponents for taking the time to run for this very difficult position. it takes a lot of time from your family and from your friends, and i know it has been a tough campaign. maybe not just on the candidates, but also on the viewing audience on tv, with those millions of dollars of

commercials. i do want to say that i am happy to be here as a native of hartford, new york. i live across the street from the house i grew up in. i race mice -- i raise my son is a single mom. i am proud to say he is now serving as an active duty marine and graduated from the u.s. naval academy. i am an attorney. i practice law. i also ran our family business, which was founded by my grandfather in 1946 in hamilton, new york. our business is still here today as a new york corporation. we pay new york taxes. all of our services, everything is here in new york. and was elected to the new york state assembly and served from 2011 until now. help ourn i ran was to small business communities, to reduce taxes, regulations, to stop some of the bad trade deals that have hurt our region, from the southern tier all the way up to the utica area, which has

sent many of our jobs overseas, to china, mexico, even the caribbean. those are some of the reasons iran for assembly, to try to bring back some common sense, reduce taxes, reduce regulations, and to deal with the issue of obamacare, which is definitely hurt our business, and to give our small business community and our family farms and opportunity to thrive. 70% of the new jobs created in our country are created by new businesses, the ones that are here locally, the ones that stay in new york. we need to protect them. we need to protect our family farms. that is the reason i am running for congress. crystal: mr. babinec. thank you wskg, c-span, and our audience this evening, as well as the candidates. i am the only one here at the table who has grown up in a working-class family. my dad worked in factories. he and my mom raised seven children up in little falls,

east utica. i really had the good fortune with local schools and community college to travel around the world, working for the navy as a civilian. at the conclusion of that, after 10 years, i ended up in the san francisco bay area, where my wife and i started a company 28 years ago. little did we know that even though it began as a small business, we were doing the right thing and helping many other small businesses with all of their headaches of being an employer. today, that company serves more than 13,000 small businesses around the country. the company is called triad. 1999, we moved back our family from silicon valley to my home town of little falls, so we rightraise our children alongside their grandparents and our extended family, because this is where our hearts are. runlso, as i continue to the company, and commuted from little falls to silicon valley -- i spent 10 years doing that, and thinking a lot about why is

it we lose so many of our next generation as they move away from upstate new york. in 2010, i started a nonprofit called upstate venture connect that addresses the problem. the problem is that too many of the next generation that want to start companies that can create here, because so they find it too hard to get connected to the right resources. i tried to do it for six years. we have made a huge difference in helping hundreds of companies get started and grow jobs. and now, to take that to a level where i can help not only influence policy, but continue this journey of bringing the right people together, is something i am committed to. i am running as an independent candidate because i'm also very frustrated with the bitter divide between our two parties, and i can have a tremendous impact in reducing the divide between the parties to make a difference. crystal: mrs. myers? ms. myers: i also want to thank wskg tv, our viewing audience, and the broome and tioga league

of women voters for having us here. my story is that i was born and raised here in broome county, grew up in binghamton, new york. here. my blocks from dad started a little company with $300 he borrowed from his grandmother that she had stored in her cookie jar. my siblings and i worked in that business our whole life. we did whatever we had to do to keep the business going. we never really felt put out about it. this was what our family did. when my dad's business -- his health started to fail. my siblings and i bought that business from my dad. there was only two stores. and through hard work and everything on the line, every dime that we had in this world was put into that business. and we grew that to what is now a nationwide chain of the largest sporting goods stores in our country. ofould not be more proud what our company has achieved.

we employ thousands of people right here in new york state, and we have more jobs that are on the way. on the vestalen board of education for 15 years. i am a broome county legislature -- legislator. i graduated from cortland state with a degree in education, which i am passionate about. i have been married to my husband tim for 36 years. our youngest child is eight. full disclosure, the last two were adopted from china when they were very small. washingtono to because i have been involved in my community my entire life, whether we have helped see people in our community through devastating floods or cheered on our world series little league baseball team. i know that jobs are important to our area. it is important to our families. it is important to our community. i want to go to washington because i really do not care if it is a democratic idea or a republican idea. the peoplegood idea,

expect us to get to the table and come up with solutions to bring good-paying quality jobs to our area, and that is what i hope to do. thank you so much. crystal: our first question is about the upstate economy and jobs. in order to spur the upstate economy, we need jobs, but it is something that seems to have defied many efforts to change it. there have been programs like star trek new york, the excelsior jobs program, ongoing tax breaks, tax credits, and so on. each of you is a business person running for congress. if you are elected, what specifically will you do in congress to create jobs for the upstate region? ms. myers, we are going to start with you. ms. myers: it is true we definitely need jobs in upstate new york, and that seems to be of all the- the crux candidates on a local and national level. or is a number of ways i feel we need to create jobs in upstate new york. some of them are all intertwined.

we need a sound infrastructure. we need to improve our infrastructure. if we think that businesses are going to thrive here, are going to come here, we need to make sure that they have quality roads, bridges, access to broadband internet. we also need to make sure that we have a workforce that can take the jobs and do the jobs. i have spent a lot of time on this campaign going to the number of businesses that we do have here. there is a resounding theme that i hear from all of them that we need to create the skill set in our workforce for the jobs of the future, the jobs that we have now, which are in advanced manufacturing. we need to partner the public sector with the private sector to make sure that we can all work together to create those jobs. there is a lot of really good things happening here. and as far as small businesses creating and sustaining those jobs, one thing i know we need is access to credit. with the debacle of the big

banks, the hands have been tied, due to regulations, with our mid-level and small banks, and even local credit units who provide the capital for those small businesses. when i was growing up as a kid, we talked about three things around the table as we were growing our small business. we did not have a lot, but we knew we had enough. but we also knew what was required for a business. the weather, which we talked about, because that affected our business. the new york giants, because that was really important to us. and the access to credit. we knew that we needed not only credit to survive, but also to grow. and the conversation was, how much did we pay down on the note this month? those are the things i believe will bring good jobs to this area and help the jobs that we do have grow. crystal: thank you. ms. tenney? ms. tenney: there is a couple of things. first of all, as i have advocated, i am a small business owner. we have our family manufacturing facility.

i am the only one here that is running for this position who has not taken the corporate welfare or been involved in the pay to play schemes you are talking about with start of new york, which is under investigation by a u.s. attorney, and the excelsior program, which is now being questioned by our state comptroller. the secret is not giving out millions in taxpayer money, especially to poor areas like here in the broome county area, where you are seeing the worst small metro areas in the nation, as far as economy -- the broom area and the utica/rome area. need to not keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result, as they say. we need to start reducing taxes, reduce regulations, and stop the trade deals. these trade deals undermine the sovereignty of our country. they make it difficult for us to compete. we need to bring manufacturing jobs back here. my business is living proof that you can survive without having corporate welfare.

we have access to credit through banks. i think it is good that we should continue to expand on that. and one of the biggest problems and one of the biggest issues facing not only small businesses, but our farm community and our school districts, is obamacare. it has caused a huge unfunded mandate on our small business community and our ability to keep up with the rates. i just saw today there was a person online that said they are up 177% increase in the cost of their health care, with $500,000 --ke a like a $5,000 deductible. that is not fair. we need to go back to a consumer model, allow our small businesses to compete for employees in the local area. those are things that i think are going to be essential to theg us back away from corruption, away from the pay to play schemes, and away from this cronyism, and allow new jobs to be created by our small business community. thank you. crystal: mr. babinec?

mr. babinec: jobs is the top priority for voters in this district. i have seen it throughout the time i have been traveling these eight months on the campaign. i can also tell you that my experience as an entrepreneur, especially starting a company in silicon valley, that the approach our politicians have used here does not work. the whole idea that we will take our tax dollars and give it to big companies so they can open up some plant -- politicians have been doing this for 30 years. it does not work, and they still keep doing it. government is not equipped to be picking the winners when it comes to private companies. i am in favor of lower taxes and >> regulation, which also has a tremendous influence on job generation. when i think about the newer industries and realize the places like california, boston, new york city -- there is places that have higher taxes and more regulation than we have here in the southern tier, and at the same time, they are job-generating machines. why is that?

many of our best and brightest move to those places to start companies. so the lessons i have learned is what led to my starting of state venture connect. our mission was to help address the very problem and why our next generation leave, and that is connecting them with the right sources that can help them start companies here instead of waving goodbye to them. as congressman, i will take that discussion to the next level, bringing the right parties together so that they end up doing some things, whether it involves collaboration between our colleges and universities and organizations, the business community, and the funding sources. these are the things we need in this area so that we can have our best people start companies here in newer industries that have tremendous job-generating potential, and allow us to keep our families together. this is what i am committed to as her congressman. i would like to ask a follow-up on that. why do you think manufacturing jobs will save the area economy

when the united states has shifted more to a service-based economy? mr. babinec: member, my answer for job generation is the newer industries. in manufacturing, which we have a substantial amount in this district, there is a shift going on in manufacturing to what is called advanced manufacturing, where they have to quickly move the production lines because the cycle time gets so short. although trade policy will influence some of that, the fact ,s that our environment here from an energy cost standpoint and regulatory standpoint, does not make new york state ideal for manufacturing. we have got to protect what we have. we have to try to grow more. but the real future is in the newer industries, where the barriers to get started are lower than ever. you can start some of these companies with a small amount of money and have a global reach that is created because of the internet. this is where many of our next generation want to take their ideas and create companies that in turn create jobs.

it is not about business attraction. it is about, use the resources we have right here, so we can be creating our own future. crystal: i want to give both our candidates a chance to weigh in on that. he does not talk about is our national debt is $19.7 trillion. new york state right now is in a debt crisis. the other state that is in a debt crisis is california. they have the two most dangerous debt situations in the nation, and they are writing on borrowed time with this incredible debt situation, even though they have height regulations and taxes. at some point, we are going to have to pay the piper nationally, and in those states. the answer is reducing the personal income tax, and giving small businesses, who use many of the pass-through items directly for their companies without going through a c court c-corp, using llc's.

we can have manufacturing jobs here. we have lost our middle class. the middle class is looking for regular jobs for regular people who just want to work and want to contribute to society and the great american way. crystal: mrs. myers? ms. myers: as someone who was born and raised in a company that has created a lot of jobs, and a lot of jobs in this area, you have to incentivize businesses to come here. a lot of what has been talked about is new york state, but this is a federal position we are running for. on a federal level, what you need to do to attract businesses is, you need to invest. you need to invest in businesses. you need to provide businesses with a way to grow. a lot of the advanced manufacturing that i visited had a need for upgrading equipment. they need to invest in their own company and their own infrastructure. that is a way you can create jobs on a federal level. going to comee

back to the federal level in just a minute. i do want to remind our viewers that this is new york 22, a debate cosponsored by the u.s. kg public media and the league of women voters of broome and tioga counties. i am crystal sarakas. thank you so much for joining us. an audience is live in the studio and also listening and andhing at home on wskg tv on the radio. if you are looking for information about the general election, we urge you to visit a website created by the league of women voters -- vote411.org. with us is candidate martin babinec, democrat kim myers, and republican claudia tenney. to ask a question, you can tweet us at #ny22. is oftennt congress referred to lately as a "do-nothing" congress, and seems crossing party

lines, even if it is for the good of their constituents. the question from an audience member is, if elected, how will you behave on the job to work with other members of congress to get things done? mr. babinec, we are going to start with you. mr. babinec: i am delighted to answer this, because it is a big reason i am running as a third-party candidate. i am terribly frustrated by the unwillingness of our current political parties to cross party lines and get something done. gridlock inwe have washington. some of that is due to the funding situation. as we know, the special interest political action committees, or have a lot to do with the money candidates raise in order to run for office. this particular race right here in upstate new york is expected to exceed $12 million being invested for these three candidates. more than $7 million of that $12 million comes from these special interest pacs. i don't take a dollar of that.

i am the only candidate that has gone off taken any financing from a special-interest pac. up havingt, you end candidates all over the u.s. that become beholden to these special interest funding, and that is the reason they don't like to cross party lines. it shuts off the money flow. as you think about it, or special interest funding never comes to the center, where most voters reside. special interest voting -- money only comes to big issues on the left and big issues on the right. most voters are just trying to get something done. we see this gridlock that happens in washington because of the unwillingness to cross party lines. and because of the special interest funding and they control the party leadership has, the voters and up coming up short. as a third-party candidate, i have more power to bring these parties closer together, because i will not be beholden to party leadership. i will not be beholden to special interest funding. i am donating my salary to , as my own commitment

for public service. that was the intention of our founding fathers when the constitution was first set up, and that is the direction i think we need to go for our entire congress. crystal: thank you. missed any? ms. tenney: with donating your salary, that means only millionaires can run for congress, and people who do not need to work. i think what is really important is, i am a member of the state assembly, where democrats outnumber republicans 107-43. a significant bill has never been passed by republicans without democratic cosponsorship since 1974. as a member of this extreme minority, i am proud to say i have over 60 bills that have been passed, all with democratic a sponsorship, and they have been made into law. hundreds of others are cosponsored, hoping to get some of those past too. in washington, we now have a president who is completely uncompromising. he is willing to sign executive orders. he claims he has a pen and a

phone and that is how he is going to operate. he refuses to work with congress. with republicans in the majority, you have a congress that passes balanced budgets, something the senate did not do when it was democratic, nor did the house when it was democratic. when we talk about getting things done, maybe it would be nice if the president would compromise. let me talk about collusion and the two parties working together. today, many of my friends have sent me a copy of a flyer they received that was paid for by nancy pelosi, promoting martin babinec. i find it interesting that both of my opponents are actually working together against me, the republican candidate. what islosi's pac, known as the house majority pac, is funded by kim myers's brother, who has run the sporting goods store. when you talk about money in politics, i am the only one sitting here that is not a

multimillionaire. each of my opponents is worth between $50 million and $150 million. i have been outspent grossly. and i'm the one that doesn't have the money. so it's a true david versus goliath situation, and the fact they are colluding to try to defeat the seat. -- meyers?s. meyer's mrs. myers: thank you very much. a lot of misinformation that but i know people want to hear about the question at hand. first of all, the money in politics is an issue. no doubt about that. my opponent claiming her pauper status she doesn't have any ads , is fueled equally by the national republican campaign committee so, be that as it may there is too much money in politics.

how much you get things done in a bipartisan is way. and you have someone like me who i have done this my whole life, whether on the school board where you have a set objective that you have to achieve. you have to have -- be behold doing your tax -- beholden your taxpayers and keep with the rules and legislations. i have never been partisan and look to see what is the best solution for anymore because that's what you're hired to do. when you run for office, and you're elected, people are depending on you, and as mr. babinec said, our founding fathers, the goal was you were supposed to serve and go home in washington. too many people are worried about keeping their jobs instead of doing their job. that's not what i'm going to be interested in. i'm interested in doing the right job for all the people in the 22nd district, as opposed to the congress we have now, who folds their arms, stomps their feet, moves to the corner and

says i'm not budging on anything. that's not something that has ever been part of my personality or my goal in getting things done for people in my years of public service. i think the american people are fed up as i am. with a bipartisan -- partisan politics. they expect people to go to washington and do their job, and if they don't, they won't get to keep their job. regardless of all the other rhetoric going on. that's what your supposed to do in washington. that's what i will do. crystal: thank you. we'll move on to another question from our audience. this year, senator schumer and congressman chris gibson interested disability integration act which would provide people and seniors with disabilities with home and community based services as an alternative to institutionalization. will you support this bill if elected and if yes, why. if not, why. tenney, we start with

you. miss tenney i get to start them all. actually, chris gibson has endorsed me in this campaign. he is a good friend and represents most of my assembly district so i'm honored to speak on his behalf. i think this sounds like a great bill. only thing i have not seen are the details but it's sounds like , part of this should be a state function. we just spent an awful lot of the state budget in the last couple of years on providing alternative care for seniors but i like the idea of having them in a less restricted area. -- fullg that disclosure i haven't read the bill but anything we can do to have seniors, people with disabilities and those, have fulfilling a life as possible, that's something that is actually in the state constitution, that mandates that we provide for people with

special needs and our seniors and to provide state money toward that. whether or not this is a federal issue or proper expenditure i don't know the details of the bill but if it enhances programs and provides protection to them, i support it. again, i don't really know that much about the bill. thank you. crystal: mr. babinec? this an area that is important for me in part because i have five sisters and a brother and the youngest sister has down syndrome. and this is something that really affects a family and makes you appreciate the importance of what happens when someone has a severe disability like that. in new york state, we actually do a pretty good job. there's no question about it. where we have gone faster down the path towards home and community services than many other states and i'm absolutely in favor of it. i not familiar with the specific am bill you're considering are referring to but conceptually definitely on the past. we have a lot to do with our own community resource center, and can certainly substantiate they

stand behind this idea of helping our people with disabilities, stay in smaller communities instead of large institutions and lead fulfilling lives. so i'm fully onboard with that. my caution would be to watch out for unfunded mandates because whenever you have a situation where you might have high standards and great intentions, but don't back it up with what is the right stream that is going to support it, we can find ourselves in trouble. right now, even what happens with medicaid funding, as certain issues come up where there are requirements to be delivered in homes, have to be fulfilled, but then the funding streams don't match up. it actually cuts into quality of service. that is something i would want to look at carefully. crystal: thank you. mrs. myers: this is pretty mere and dear to my heart. without looking at the statistics or data you know that if somebody can stay in their home or with their loved one, the quality of life it brings to them, increases their longevity and how fulfilling they are.

i know when my in-laws got to be older and are they were able to move in with my sister-in-law and her husband, i saw the quality of life my in-laws had. as my father lost first started the in-home services were invaluable. they were so happy and what they brought to our family to be able to be integrated and part of the family and involved with their grandchildren. the grandchildren came to visit them and some of them actually lived with them. it's amazing. that is what everybody would want for their parents and loved ones and quite frankly it also saves money. if you could have people stay in their home to provide access and support that they need to stay in their home why would we not , do that as a society and value our elderly and disabled to help them have an increased quality

of life? i would be all for this. the devil is in the details i will be very interested to support and look at this bill as to improve the quality of life elderly and disabled. crystal: thank you. i would like to move on to the subject of social security for all candidates. elderly andby 2034 security wia $500 billion shortfall. if congress does nothing in -- it means most of us will only receive 77% of what we are old. you do to helpl fix social security? mrs. myers: the one thing that i know is important in this campaign is to make sure our seniors and citizens know that they have paid into social security will not have the rug

pulled off from underneath them. we need to maintain and protect social security and medicare. when i was growing up, there was one thing my father always told us there is no such word as can -- can't, you have to figure it out and work at it one of the ways that we can save social security is by raising the cap. the annual cap that is paid into it will help with social security. i know for a fact of the 30% better on social security that is 90% of their income. if you start reducing those services and take that away from them think about the impact that them, not only the quality life but the ability to be independent but their ability to survive. social security is something near and dear to our heart we must absolutely get to the table and raising the cap could be a simple first start.

mrs. myers: -- crystal: mr. babinec? babinec: social security is an earned benefit not a tax if they put money into it, you should get back what we put in and then some. weall know that doing what are doing now is a situation where the next generation will not have the benefit. and at the same time those that , that are approaching it are counting on it. and to look at what adjustments can be made so remains financially viable for the next generation. and when we have any situation where the health extends the life span and people are retiring and later years. in raising the age limit for the next generation weather if this

is the cap that is another item looked at. there are different levers of that could be considered in order for any of those changes to take place, it will require a lot of negotiation between congress and the senate. right now, we have too much theisan divide, this is reason we have not been able to make the necessary changes and the can just keeps getting kicked down the road. we, as voters have to stand up , and object the only way we can buy starting to make the changes that we need. those that our ready to cross party lines otherwise it is the next generation that we are really short changing time very concerned. i will like to a

dress deceitful ads that said i have supported cutting medicare and social security. on socialer voted security and medicare and the state assembly. i come from a middle-class family. my family depends on that to survive. i have said, i will do nothing to cut social security and medicare. i think we should preserve them. what we have done over the years , just the creation of obamacare raided $800 billion from medicare and social security to fund obamacare. another wonder took away from $50 billion our seniors to put that into obamacare which is imploding before our eyes even democrats are starting to peel away from it and realizing we have to, with another solution. we need to look for other ways to cut to the waste and fraud to preserve social security for

middle-class people like me just -- who will depend on such security just like my parents and my family. i have been accused of all these 96 percent have a attendance record. is it is hard for me to bust through those millions being spent because honestly i don't have the resources that my opponents have to spend on ads. when it comes to reversing -- preserving social security, i am happy to have this opportunity in a public forum and to tell the truth to the people that i will not touch social security or medicare for our seniors. thank you. crystal: one of the questions that has come and through twitter. mr. babinec mentioned unfunded

mandates how do feel a lot common core standards in the unfunded mandates? mr. babinec, we will start with you. mr. babinec: i am not supportive of common core. i agree with having standards that we can evaluate to know where the students stack up and conceptually that is a good idea and how it has been implemented hurting the local school districts. there is a lot of diversity in terms of demographics, income levels, geographic dispersion and then you have a situation where different schools are held to a different standard that makes it harder to be effective in the classroom. so i am not a supporter of common core as implemented from a federal perspective there is way too much intervention from the federal government through the common core program.

i am in favor of local school districts having the complete authority to make the right decisions for the curriculum, holding teachers accountable and equipping with those resources they need to get the job done. when you have high standards that are placed on the school districts and not providing the resource, the homeowners end up getting high property taxes i been a supporter of a plan that recognizes the way education is implemented under common core is detrimental to local community -- local counties were this a huge expense that can be better controlled by doing away with unfunded mandates. when it is required by state or federal government, we should look to make sure there is funding that is flowing. this is something

that has been a big issue in the state. the common core was developed by national no child left behind to money inurt to dangle front of the states and then incorporate the standards for the one-size-fits-all packages. it has been a tremendous disaster in new york. it is not just the implementation but the overreach of the federal government to impose itself on local school districts to impose profiteering and data mining. , core is something against the principles of our constitution where we revere individual rights to recognize each student is unique. well to recognize that our students and teachers are the classroom that will provide critical thinking skills and not just using testing to use against the teacher in

evaluations. testing is good for students but testing should be a but not students something to evaluate them to take their pay away or to hurt students. we know and difficult school districts, many of the students are coming from troubled homes and they cannot meet some of those standards. that is why i have always opposed, core, not just implementation but the way -- for what it stands for. i wouldn't try to bring back the professionalism that artesia deserve. we account for school districts probably more than any other entity in our state and national level. leave thatneeded to our local taxpayers and our parents and volunteers school boards who understand what the problems are and let them educate our children. crystal: you are listening to

22. is ahing ny the league ofith women voters. on election night, if you want to follow the returns we have created a special website and we will have the results. i am crystal. tonight's guests are mr. babinec, and ms. myers and ms. tenney. one of our questions, from twitter -- pardon me for interrupting. education is my passion. i firmly believe that all problems can be solved for education. the key to a happy life is the threshold of quality public-school education. the misnomer and the dirty word

of common core needs to be understood. common core was implemented and it was brought about by state governors and in their education advisers who were noticing that our students were not graduating with the skill set to be ready for jobs and careers. they got together and decided there should be a higher standards. higher standards are always a good thing. i believe that and i believe throughout the united states we need a common set of skills sets. third grade in one school should be the same as the skill set. when you graduate from fourth grade you should have the same , skill set around the country -- country. we are a mobile society. the problem with common core comes from the region's reform agenda. it is the implementation of it.

it is the lack of funding that comes along with it. unfunded mandates, whether at state or federal level, have been hurting education for years. the unfunded mandates for special education, it has never been fully funded to be implemented far students. we need to have high standards, that we need local control and minimal standard test across the country. the test issue remain at the state level and evaluation of teachers based on test scores is unconscionable. you cannot solve education unless you solve poverty for the teachers to be evaluated on the student who is hungry, has not slept, who is living in poverty, you are not going to get quality the education and the results that we need in this country. crystal: thank you.

we have so many questions coming in. questions thatr has come in a from twitter speaking of health care and , living level in regards to social security will you support , a public auction for health care? mrs. myers: thank you. i think that probably universally, across the country people understand and they feel , that access to quality affordable health care should be available to every single person in this country and that has not happened whether under the affordable health care act, the health care programs in the past -- in the past. that is why i believe what ever you want to call it, we have to get to the table and figured out so that every person in the united states has access to quality, affordable health care. we have the technology.

we have some the best doctors. we have some of the best results medically, but not everybody is able to access that. we need to come to the table to figure out how we will provide that. they affordable care act, is it perfect? absolutely not. has it had unintended consequences? yes. are there good things? certainly. for example, students can stay on their parents' health care program until they are 26 until they figure out where they will go after college and what did they are planning on doing. the idea of no cap for someone with a chronic disease is a good thing. as well as many others. one of the consequences i do not think is a good thing, i do not believe the affordable health care act took into account the health care there are public-school teachers have is a good plan but now qualifies as a cadillac tax. we all know our public schools do not have the additional funds

to pay a couple of million dollars because they supply good health care for the teachers. we need to get to the table to this out. again, maybe i am the eternal optimist, but the always believe their solution if you are the right people at the table with the right ideas and the right attitude that is the goal that want to achieve. mr. babinec: with regards to the public option we all know that , when we are consumers the way we get the best price with the do thatthat we want, we by having choice. the very definition of the public option is to eliminate choice so you would be reliant total of the government for your health care. system.t a good wherever that has been tried, we know rationing occurs and you end up having costs that can go

up. and importantly, the choices we want be eliminated. and i am much more in favor of going in the direction of increasing choice by reducing the amount of government intervention in the health care system. toot now, we already have much and obamacare has given us more than we need. it is a problem. i am in favor of more competition not less. that is how we get the choice that we want at a price we want. to we could do a better job increase transparency so we have more knowledge and choices of the things available including crossing state lines, which is right now not per minute. as consumers, we would rather have the choice to pick and choose what makes sense not only from a cost standpoint but providers. and do that with information that could be a little bit more

transparent that it is today. that would be helpful. public option for me is not the solution. theoretically, we have a public option, isn't that what obamacare was to provide? if were talking about single payer, let me point to the audience to eva. it is an example of failed v.a.. vermont introduced the air realized it pulled away. before, we have to go to consumer driven model. what you don't obamacare has created huge corporate giants that are health care companies running our system and coordinate with bureaucrats. patientso reacquaint with their doctor and talk about health care, excellent health care, not just talking about insurance. it is not affordable and if you

have insurance, you pay an exorbitant amount and have a very big deductible. it does hurt small businesses and the poor. the health care exchanges in new york done by executive order passed on the assembly the governor and they are imploding. it is not working care. we need to institute a program immediately. obamacare is to step -- dev center communities. we do need to cover people with pre-existing conditions. andan allow competition force the insurance companies to compete for that to allow those risk pools to continue for that those. i have a small business and health care has become want the most difficult obstacles and unfunded mandates we have to meet. with had to go to partial self-assurance. we have had to buy stopgap insurance. in case we have an employee with

a catastrophic illness the allotted the small business community will back obamacare complete the start from scratch to focus on excellent health care to allow professionals to run the system. thank you. crystal: we are getting towards the end of the progress so i will limit the answers to one minute each. this is about income inequality. do you think the gap between the rich and the poor in this country is a problem? if not, why or if so but also how would you address it? miss tenney: yes, i do think it is a problem. we have lost our middle-class and we have taken the just for the middle class and thrown at them away and send them to china. china, mexico, you name it. these countries where the wages are $5,000 per year. and makes it very difficult for

our business community to compete here. it also leaves people without a job. they become dependent on public assistance, no job opportunities available. we have a culture that people want to work but they cannot find a job. we think they have to have any lead to job. many people just want to go to work and have decent pay. unfortunately, so much more money and taxpayer money goes to helping the big corporate giants to continue to bridge patch weight -- perpetuate their domination of our society. causingart of what is inequality. it is funny with had a warm poverty but now it seems worse than it was in the past. yes, there is an inequality and i agree. we're losing our middle-class. there's always a solution. i feel we have gone from one

ditch to the other. with gone from it is very rare that someone would graduate high school than gold to 4 years school and get professional job. now, it seems that is what you must do in order to be successful or to appear to be successful. what i have seen throughout the 22nd, we have a lot of good, middle-class paying jobs going unfulfilled. we are not pairing skill sets with those jobs in advance may century. -- manufacturing. that's what we need to do also by understanding that our trades need people. we needed the next generation of plumbers or electricians with good middle-class jobs. we need invest in that trading so the just we have here. we have not shifted every single

-- shipped every single may 1 rejected china because i visited many up and down the 22nd district. income inequality is an issue. b-flat, not incomes arising in upstate new york. it's concern for many. that's one of the reasons we are losing population. the area will lose about one million people. my solution is recognizing there are places around the u.s. that are actually job generating machines. when we peel back the layers and asked what are the industry's ? knew were industry including with smaller firms. the studies have shown these smaller firms with a newer industries that are creating a product or service being sold to a market not only pay more so it helps wages rise. it helped generate five jobs for

every one that might be in one of these other companies. that is what my jobs plan is focused on. that is what i've been working on the last six years. that's what i'm breaking to congress. i'm committed to create more of these jobs in the district. is time for closing statements. and reminder, we true straws to toermine -- drew straws determine the order. we will start with mr. babinec. mr. babinec: thank you for inviting us here and for the studio and for hosting. all many levels, this 2016 election cycle is ugliest we have ever seen. our two parties are the furthest apart we can ever remember. it has created gridlock where not enough is getting done. we talked about how to many of

our politicians are afraid to cross party lines. we've talked by special interest funding and these are the kind of things that caused me to run as an independent candidate. i'm not beholden to any part or leadership. specialtaking any interest funding. i cannot be bought and i'm committed to making a change including creating more jobs so our families can stay together to address the income inequality we have touched on. i am the only third-party candidate running for congress in the entire country, the individual polls said i am competitive and can win the race. i ask for your vote so we can make history. mrs. myers: thank you so much. i have enjoyed being here and it is certainly a unique election year. i know that i have the right attitude. i know have the right

temperament. i know that my history shows i show up and i work with who ever inthere to come to solutions a common sense that we need a washington. i have done that my whole life and i will continue to do that. i was born and raised here. i have been blessed, my family have achieve this am -- and the american dream. if there's one thing in achieving that american dream that my dad always told us, he said you never forget where you came from. his work came from. this where i live. i would be proud to serve in the door said congress -- i would be proud to serve in the united states congress to represent the people of the 22nd district and ask for your vote. miss tenney: i think the voters have a clear choice. a fighter enemy. someone was stood up to corruption. we need to do of few things. revitalize our economy, cutting

regulation, stop the made trade does, renegotiate their -- them. get rid of all obamacare and replace with a system that works for all. we need to secure our borders. we need to rebuild our military. we don't need to be the world's policeman but we need to take care of i nation and be a leader. we need to restore our culture. we have come to a corruption culture. that's what we need to an act term limits and cut politicians pay. if your company is worth $6 billion in annual revenues and to render $50 million in net revenue, let the people have their $31 million back and bring the jumps back -- jobs back. that is exemplary of what would make your true commitment to

this community. please vote for me november november 8. thank you so much. that wraps of new york thanks to our candidates 22. , mr. babinec, mrs. myers and miss tenney. thank you to the studio audience and those watching at home. for more information find out other races visit the league of women voters special election in website. on election night, you can follow the results. the polls open tuesday, november 8 at 6:00 in the morning and remain open through 9:00 p.m.. we urge you to participate. have a good night. [applause]

announcer: the unemployment rate dropped slightly from 5% and that is the final major report before next week's election. the wall street journal compiled the jobless rate every year since 1979. only the year 2000 had a lower rate. bill clinton was finishing his second term and bill bush was running against al gore.

scalia will be honored this afternoon. we will have live coverage. scalias include former law clerks. hillary clinton campaigning today in pennsylvania and michigan and we will bring live coverage of her rally in deitch worked. that is set -- in detroit. that is set to start at 5:15 p.m. we will have live coverage of donald trump's rally in hershey, pennsylvania. that is tonight at 7:00. --ction night on c-span washington results and be part of a national conversation on the outcome. the on location at they hillary trumpn and total headquarters and watch a victory and concession speeches. atrting live at 8:00 p.m.

the route the following 24 hours. watch live on c-span, on demand as c-span.org or listen to the radio app. hampshire'sew senate race, maggie hassan leads by one point but statistically it's a tossup against kelly ayotte. up next, a recent debate between the candidates were there discussed cyber security, the theeme court, gun control, minimum wage and health care. this last about an hour. and now, a wmur special, the granite state debate. >> political lie -- political eyes are focused on new hampshire. >> it will be a close race. >> with the balance of power and the u.s. senate in play, the stakes couldn't be higher.

>> i wake up every day with a sense of purpose to make a difference in washington. >> i will put new hampshire first. that is what this campaign will be about. >> each candidate is making a claim to the title of washington outsider. it is the most expensive race in state history, and both candidates are seeking an edge as this race appears to be going down to the wire. >> i am going to be working to make sure people understand the choice in this election. >> there is so much more that needs to be done. >> tonight, the candidates for u.s. senate. moderator: good evening, everyone. i am mike mcelveen, and tonight, we will be discussing the top issues.

questions will come from the moderator not panelists. each candidate will have one minute to respond. rebuttals will be at the moderator's discretion. for the closing statement. let's get to know our panel. we have a reporter and a political reporter at wmur, and a reporter at the concord monocle -- critical. let's get started. we will begin with a threat emerging at a rapid pace. we are talking about cyber terrorism. just about 10 days ago, i new hampshire company was the victim of repeated attacks. it ended up crippling internet activity along the east coast. it was an attack experts say could easily happen again. some people worry attacks like these could disrupt the financial markets or knock out our power grid. a lot of people are talking about it. to enter a yacht, as a member of

homeland security, -- a senator youcht -- ayotte, have recommended any action that could be taken to stop this type of threat? ms. ayotte: my priority has been to keep new hampshire and the country safe, serving on the armed services committee and serving on the homeland security committees. this issue of cyber terrorism is a grave threat. i have worked to make sure there are stronger agreements in place, including supporting legislation to allow the sharing of information between companies and the government when things like that happen to make sure we can take the steps we need if it is a state actor. we have to take this very seriously from states like iran

and russia. we cannot diminish our military because cyber command, which i support, needs the support and resources if we are going to stay safe. moderator: governor hassan, you recently signed an executive order to establish the integration center. the press release that followed was a little vague. i want to ask you what you think we should be doing at the federal level to counter cyber terrorism. ms. ayotte: thank you for moderating tonight in thank you to the senator. thank you for moderating tonight, to senator a out for being here, and for the viewers -- senator ayotte for being here, and to all the viewers for being here tonight. my first priority is keeping us safe. in addition to adding troopers and making sure we have active

shooter training for law enforcement and enhancing school safety plans, cyber security. making sure state employees have cyber security training. establishing standards, getting rid of outdated hardware and software that made us more vulnerable. and the integration center you talked about is the next step in that process, making sure the stakeholders are working together to share information. >> governor, over the past several months, security experts in the u.s. pointed to russia as the culprit in several high-profile hacking cases. last year, they pointed to china as most likely involved in the theft of data at the office of u.s. personnel management. in a case where u.s. cyber

security officials have evidence of a hack or cyber attack, should we encounter attack, try to steal information, or shutdown their systems? should we counter with conventional warfare, or should the u.s. do something else to respond? ms. hassan: thank you for the question, and it is nice to see you tonight. look, everything is on the table when it comes to keeping our country safe. what we have seen from russia in particular are acts of aggression, including, what looks like, according to our national security community, aggressive cyber attack. we have all seen aggressive action taken toward china in regards to the cyber security arena. we have to continue to confront and hold accountable our nations for those kinds of attacks. among the things we should

consider doing are increasing sanctions against russia. some acts of aggression have caused vladimir putin's close business allies great concern and weakened them. but everything is on the table. i think it is important that we continue to combat cyber aggression and cyber attacks. >> same question. ms. ayotte: i think very clearly, whether it is russia, china, or frankly i ran or other countries who are using cyber attacks, we have to address what they do, and that means having the staffing capability within our armed services, making sure our armed services have the resources they need and the technical background. and if someone takes an aggressive step, we need to make sure we address it in return.

unfortunately, when it comes to russia, this administration has not held russia accountable. the reset policy has been a failure. we have not held them accountable for the invasion of ukraine or looking at what they have done in violating the inf treaty, whether it is cyber attacks or what they are doing in syria now. when we are not strong in terms of what we say in return, we will see them continue to act badly. moderator: i have a follow-up. it is pretty much accepted that russia is trying to influence our election. do you think they have been successful in doing that? ms. ayotte: i think our defense department will make sure they do not have an impact on our election or any other matter. i think this means being tough on actors like russia when they

are violating international treaties, when they are circumventing international law in terms of cyber crime, and when they are undermining our interest. i have been a strong critic of the lack of action on russia going back four years from now. ms. hassan: certainly, we have to do as much as we can to hold russia accountable. we talked about that just a little bit ago. but look, one of the things we know we have to do is continue to build alliances with nato allies, for instance, to make sure we have the resources and partnerships to hold russia accountable for its acts of aggression. i am very proud that in new hampshire we have paper ballots and our voting machines are not hooked up to the internet. that provides some security here for voters. i know our national security

experts are working hard to make sure we are protecting our electoral system. but it is concerning to me that the republican nominee in the presidential race has showered praise on vladimir putin, has praised him and in some ways invited him to make an attack of some sort on our electoral system, and that's one of the reasons i am so concerned that senator ayotte spent so much time supporting the nominee. ms. ayotte: when you want to talk about cyber security, hillary clinton, who governor hassan has followed on so many issues -- and really, has failed to call out on this issue -- she set up his private server transferring classified information, one of the most position -- important positions in our government, and that put national security at risk. if you want to talk about cyber crime, that could have put our

national security at risk. if she is not going to break with hillary clinton on this, when is she ever going to break with her? we need to make sure that we are standing up for the people of new hampshire and the people of this country. this was egregious. ms. hassan: i will always stand up to secretary clinton to serve and protect the people of new hampshire as i always have. i disagree with secretary clinton on her support to close guantanamo, for example. i disagree with her on the internet sales tax. i disagree on the vetting of syrian refugees. and let's be clear, i have said repeatedly that her use of e-mails was a mistake. she has apologized. i think that's appropriate. i think what is on the line in this race is whether we will have a senator who continues to fail to stand up to corporate

interests. or whether we will have somebody puts new hampshire first. moderator: speaking of the top of the ticket, you have both been asked repeatedly about it and now you will be again. [laughter] >> jim comey's decision to investigate new e-mails related to clinton's private server has thrown on the election. are you prepared to say tonight that you still believe hillary clinton is a leader americans can believe and trust, and do you have any concerns about her character? ms. hassan: first of all, we definitely need more information from director comey and the fbi. this is an issue that has been investigated exhaustively. secretary clinton has said she has made mistakes in the way she used her e-mails and has appropriately apologized for

that. this election is about how we can come together and build a stronger, more innovative state. we have an unemployment rate of 2.9%, one of the lowest in the country. cnbc has been named the most business friendly state in the country. more people are at work today in new hampshire than at any time in our state's history. we can work across party lines to build a brighter future for all people. for granite staters where the middle class is growing and thriving. that is the vision i have and work toward. i support secretary clinton because she shares that vision and has a record of delivering on it. >> in dropping your support for

trump, you said you wanted your 12 year old daughter to know that rejecting him for his vulgar comments about women was more important than winning any election. but previously when he insulted muslims, mexicans, and a disabled reporter, you did not pull your support. why not? ms. ayotte: i called donald trump out on numerous occasions, including the examples that you gave. i stood up to my party on issues like the government shutdown, and i will stand up to both sides on behalf of the people of this state. but governor hassan, to call what hillary clinton did a mistake that has been exhaustively investigated, she has not stood up to hillary clinton. she will give you her talking points of where she differs, but what about issues like the trillion dollar tax increase hillary clinton wants. will she stand up to something like that? or addressing the concerns of health care laws? she wants to expand that. or the flawed iran agreement she followed hillary clinton on that is dangerous for the country in

terms of the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world having access to nuclear infrastructure. i will stand up to either side no matter what. i have done it and will continue to put the interests of the people of new hampshire first. ms. hassan: the fact is senator ayotte is still supporting donald trump. she has sent out flyers that say donald trump needs her in the senate to support his supreme court nominees. she supports the agenda of overturning roe versus wade. she can try to distance herself, as she did on multiple occasions, but in fact she has said on 35 different occasions that she supported him. she called him a role model for our children. when the political winds seemed to change, she changed her position. she has stood with her party, voting five times with ted cruz to shut the government down, and on a supreme court blockade.

ms. ayotte: these are the talking points from governor hassan, but my actions speak for themselves. she has not stepped away from hillary clinton on one thing. i have taken the action of saying that i am not going to be voting for our nominee because i am concerned about the actions that he has talked about and takes. that speaks for itself. i have done that time and time again in the senate. that is why i have one of the most bipartisan records. i focus on getting things done for the people of this state. she can use her talking points all she wants on this issue, but the people of this state know i will stand up for them no matter what. she is certainly not going to stand up to hillary clinton. if she can't call her out on the private e-mail server, when is she going to call her out? >> it is great to be with both of you tonight.

one of the reasons these stakes are so high is that one party may be able to shape the landscape of the supreme court for decades to come with as many as three justices. governor hassan, how much latitude would you give a president donald trump if he is duly elected by the american people when you consider nominees for the supreme court and other federal judge ships? ms. hassan: thank you for the question. i am proud of the system we have in new hampshire where governors nominates people for the court and the executives confirmed those nominations. we have a nonpartisan judicial selection commission that recommends candidates to the governor. i have always taken every nominee -- any nominee from that list of recommendations. over the last year or so, i have made 12 nominations to the court of new hampshire, and 11 of those have been confirmed by a republican majority executive council.

i know it's possible to work across party lines to do this, which is why i am concerned about senator ayotte standing with her party to block a supreme court nomination. i look for character. high experience as a lawyer. temperament, and someone who will protect the civil rights of every american. >> senator ayotte, you were against holding a hearing on senator obama's nominee merrick garland. didn't the american people weigh in in 2012 when they elected barack obama? ms. ayotte: certainly, the american people are going to weigh in next tuesday. they will cast their vote and the president will nominate someone to the supreme court. we have a divided court right now.

this is an important decision. we also have divided government. letting the people weigh in, i thought, was important. but i also have a very bipartisan record where i voted to confirm many of the president's nominees, in fact, close to 100, and worked to fill members of his cabinet. i have been able to work across party lines. i also want to make sure that whoever is nominated by the next president understands what their constitutional philosophy is and what their demeanor is in terms of serving on the highest court in the land. >> with regard to the supreme court, do you think it is appropriate to have lifetime appointments? ms. ayotte: i do. it's under our constitution. it's a lifetime confirmation. our founders wanted to ensure there were three coequal branches of government and that branch would not be subject to political influence. so, this is important and obviously an issue i will

carefully review on behalf of new hampshire to make sure there constitutional rights are protected. ms. hassan: i support lifetime appointments in accordance with the constitution, but i am very concerned about senator ayotte's support of the supreme court blockade. we do have divided government right now and unfortunately, the executive branch and legislative branch have been at odds. the supreme court served as a tiebreaker for that. senator ayotte decided to bring gridlock as they having congress to the court. just as she brought gridlock to that, she voted with ted cruz five times to shut the government down, only deciding after it was shut down and feeling the political heat of that in new hampshire, then she decided she would be part of a solution. similarly, she has voted to defund planned parenthood six

times, standing with her party as she has stood with the koch brothers. she has been highly partisan and stood with her party and its backers at very critical times when she could have broken and really helped people in small businesses. ms. ayotte: if you want to talk gridlock, is vetoing a bipartisan budget because there is a reduction for business taxes and then both parties overwriting your veto. that's gridlock. that's bringing washington style to what happened in new hampshire. she keeps talking about the government shutdown. the papers in this state described the work i did with senator shaheen and other women senators to open the government. she knows what she is saying is not true. i stood up to ted cruz and my own caucus on the shut down i led the effort to reopen the government, and people of this

state know that. ms. hassan: i am certainly proud to have senator shaheen's endorsement in this race. i will always stand up for fiscal responsibility. senator ayotte had a few facts wrong, but at the end of the day, we had a continuing resolution, kept the government going, brokered a compromise, and i encouraged everyone to vote for a compromise budget that had important safeguards so that we could invest in critical economic priorities. moderator: thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of two police officers in iowa who were murdered today, ambushed while sitting in their patrol cars. we don't know all the circumstances surrounding this we don't know all the circumstances surrounding this yet, but it is reported that the alleged shooter had a violent past with guns. incidents like this continue the discussion when it comes to gun laws in the country. that is where we are going for

the next question. >> senator ayotte, you are known to have widely opposed universal background checks related to firearm sales at gun shows and over the internet. how can checking to see if someone is potentially dangerous before buying a gun be a bad thing? ms. ayotte: first of all, my thoughts and prayers go to the families of those officers. i prosecuted the case where a briggs, ahael decorated hero who was killed in the line of duty, and to me, standing up for police is so important. having been a murder prosecutor and working on difficult cases like that and our state and having served as attorney general, i appreciate so much how important it is that we keep guns away from criminals and terrorists. i also believe it's deeply important that we stand up for the second amendment rights of our citizens. in the senate i support , background checks.

i have worked to get records in the system that are not in there now, and actually mental health , records that have not gotten in, that new hampshire has not gotten in. i have also supported more prosecutions of the law of violations of the background checks. right now, new hampshire needs more resources to do that for our troopers. right now, that system is not working the way it should. i very proud to have the endorsement of the troopers and manchester patrolmen. they know i will work to keep us safe in light of all the threats we are facing. >> governor hassan, you have twice vetoed a repeal of the states concealed carry law that requires people to get a license to carry a concealed gun. given the millions of dollars spent by pro-gun groups to support your candidacy, why ers believeite stator you will support the second amendment? ms. hassan: my thoughts and prayers also go to the families of the officers taken from us

early this morning or last night in iowa. look, i fully support the second amendment. i believe responsible gun owners have the right to defend themselves, to recreate, and to hunt. but i also think that that right has to be balanced with public safety. as governor, i thought it was appropriate to keep the gun laws that have been in existence in new hampshire for about 100 years the way they were. they were described by the former republican governor as pretty good gun laws that worked pretty well, so i made sure we have sustained those. at the end of the day, one of the big concerns i have is as a national security and public safety issue, we should be closing loopholes so that terrorists cannot buy guns online and at gun shows. and even after the tragedy in orlando, senator ayotte had the opportunity to vote to close those loopholes, and she has declined to do that. and that is a real difference in this race. let me just say that

i brought a group together after orlando to address that if you are too dangerous to get on a commercial flight, you are also too dangerous to purchase a firearm. and i have also set up a system for those who are on the list wrongly to be able to go into a court and get off the list. in new hampshire, unfortunately the state police need more resources. they have gaps in enforcing current law because they don't have enough resources. it's one of the reasons i supported more prosecutorial resources at the federal level. moderator: i don't mean to be the bad guy when it comes to times and rebuttals, but your campaigns will certainly let me know if one goes longer than the other. you are both well aware that new hampshire is dealing with the crisis of addiction. the next question goes to senator ayotte. >> thank you. you know, that addiction continues a crisis levels in new hampshire, where the state medical examiner projects nearly 500 people will die from

overdoses this year. senator ayotte, your campaign ad that youvision and senator shaheen sponsored that you said will save lives and help families get the care they need. but as you know, so far, only $7 million from the bill has been appropriated to the entire nation and only for 10 weeks. is your ad an honest representation of the bills 's ability to fight this epidemic? ms. ayotte: yes, you have doug and pam griffin who lost their beautiful daughter, courtney. so many people i have gotten to know in new hampshire have lost a family member that they loved. this bill, for three years we , worked in the united states senate to get it passed. it focuses on prevention, treatment, and recovering. i have been fighting for more resources through the funding

appropriations process for more funding to come into assist in these programs. that bill was signed into law the summer, and it is going to make a difference. in fact, we will be fighting for more funding when government funding bill expires in december, so that is only the beginning of it. this will be a bill that makes a difference. most of all this issue is about , all of us working together to address it and save lives. finally, we need to deal with addiction at the southern border. i have done that at the armed services committee, getting more resources on intervention of fentanyl and heroin coming over the border, as it is being trafficked here by mexican drug cartels. we need to support our law enforcement in securing the borders, as well. >> governor, you have made this a priority, but your critics have said you have been slow to respond at times. you appointed at drug czar who was later called incompetent.

you were unaware of a $12 million federal grant to fight the drug crisis until the media asked you about it. how does this reflect on your leadership? ms. hassan: well i have been all , over the state, as you know, talking with people every day about the impact of this devastating epidemic on our families, our businesses, and our way of life, whether it is talking with a colleague about her sister who is in recovery but is trying to regain the trust of her children, or mourning the loss of one of my son's classmates. this has impacted all of us. since my first days in office, i have been fighting to get the resources we need in new hampshire, fighting for funding for our drug task force teams. fighting for medicaid expansion. itsing and re-author raising -- and reauthorizing it. that is what providers told us is the single must important thing we can do. since we have gotten $25 million january, out the door to places

like harbor homes, hope for recovery, and other places, to make sure friendship house in bethlehem, to make sure we are doing everything we can to put a dent in from every angle, prevention, law-enforcement, treatment, recovery. we need to continue to work together to do that. moderator: thank you, candidates. let's move into the lightning round. kind of conditions answers if we could. let's start with relationships. senator, we will start with you. who is your most trusted advisor who is not a member of your own party? ms. ayotte: who is my most trusted advisor who is not a member of my own party? members of my family. my husband and my mother. i turn to them first. also, the people in new hampshire who give me such great advice. on the heroin epidemic, it was people like doug and pam griffin who lost their daughter, people like melissa cruse who founded hope for new hampshire recovery. those are the best advisors i

have. moderator: to you have a conduit to commit occasion when talking to democrats in washington? ms. ayotte: yeah, i have worked across the aisle with claire mccaskill, protecting victims of sexual assault. i have worked across the aisle with senator shaheen on many issues for new hampshire, whether it is support for the shipyards, refueling units, care for veterans. i am always looking for ways to find common ground to get things done. moderator: governor, who do you reach out to for a republican counterpoint? ms. hassan: first of all, the people of new hampshire are great sources. there are so many times when i am talking to people in this state and nobody identifies by party, which is the point. we worked together in new hampshire to get things done. if elected leaders followed the example of the people of new hampshire who solve problems and their families, businesses, communities without regard to partisanship, we could do pretty well. i have a lot of friends and

family who happen to be republicans, and i have a very good friend in new england who is a republican, and we talk a lot about various issues. moderator: i kind of blew it on the lightning portion of that. we are moving forward. according to pew research, 57% of americans are now in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. governor do you agree with the , majority? ms. hassan: i don't. i was proud to sign into law the bill that allows us to have medical marijuana. i think that is the right, compassionate, appropriate thing to do. i also think a young person or any person should not have their life ruined by a simple possession charge. so i was proud to enact a bill that allows our court system more flexibility in terms of penalties, but i don't think legalizing marijuana is appropriate, especially the epidemic we're dealing with with heroin and opioids. ms. ayotte: i do not support

legalizing marijuana. theve heard from those on front lines, first responders, and addiction experts the concerns they have about legalizing marijuana and how it could be connected in terms of dealing with issues like our heroin epidemic. i would not support this. going back to being attorney general of the state and working closely with law-enforcement and hearing from them on it i could , not support it. moderator: next question. are you in favor of federal term limits? ms. ayotte: yes, i am, and i have cosponsored legislation on term limits. at two, and the senate, 12 years. ms. hassan: the best term limit is the ballot box. i think we have an engaged citizenry in new hampshire, and we can decide when people deserve to be reelected and when they don't. moderator: federal minimum wage is $7.25. what do you think it should be? think no one

working full-time should live in poverty, which is what happens right now when people are in the federal minimum wage. it is unacceptable. it also means people do not have disposable income to spend on consumer goods that drive our economy. so i would support raising it and phasing it into $12 an hour, but we have to do it while working with our businesses. ms. ayotte: i believe the focus should not be on minimum wage, it should be on better paying jobs. i travel around our state, and a look at the jobs opening in manufacturing and technology that are well beyond minimum wage, because families cannot live on minimum wage. i think better education in stem and career technical education leads to better jobs in this country. when there have been efforts in washington, one of the things i worry about is i have not been able to support them, because we lose between half a million jobs and one million jobs according , to the economic analysis. those are sometimes entry-level jobs. my first job was as a bus girl

in new hampshire. what i want to focus on is better jobs than minimum wage jobs. moderator: we will keep up the lightning round on the october classic, even though i know it is i'm sure a lot of people will november. be watching. senator cubs or indians? , ms. ayotte: i like to root for the underdog, but the cubs came from behind, so i think the cubs. i would have liked to see big papi in the world series. ms. hassan: we can agree on wishing the red sox were in the world series, but i am also rooting for the cubs. moderator: we are going to circle back to foreign policy. the next question is for the governor. ms. hassan >> we are going to ck to college debt. this is for both of you. there is a new nonpartisan study out there that shows that more new hampshire graduates left school with loans more than any other state.

the average student debt was more than $36,000. senator ayotte, you voted twice for large budget bills that included cuts to pell grants, federal money for needy students then , voted against a bill to restore $90 billion in cuts. why? ms. ayotte: that is not true. that budget resolution did not cut pell grants. it made sure there was oversight over the spending of pell grants. i want that for all federal spending. but i have actually worked to expand pell grants. if i were against pell grants, i would not have done that. i worked with the vice president shall nominee for the democratic party, tim kaine, to expand them to career technical education and also so you can seek access to them year-round. perkins grants, they were trying to end those in washington. 5000 students in new hampshire would have been impacted. you can go see my speech on the senate floor from september 29, 2015, where i fought to keep those available for the people

in new hampshire. so, for me i had student loans off, thenaid them transfer that money into childcare. i know how important this is for the kids in new hampshire. this is very important. by the way, when it comes to education, i would like to talk about that more. because what governor hassan did to the kids and croydon by vetoing a bill that would have parents to send them to a montessori school, she vetoed a bill that would allow them to do it. i want parents to decide these issues, and there is a big issue in terms of how we view education. moderator: take a little extra time to respond. ms. hassan: first of all, i know how important to our families and businesses, making sure higher education is affordable and it is something i , have made a priority as governor. we want to make sure people who work hard have an opportunity to get ahead and say ahead and that

our middle class is growing and thriving. that starts with access to affordable higher education, which is why i worked as governor to freeze in-state tuition at our public state universities for the first time in 25 years and lower it at our community colleges. it is why, in washington i would , continue to make bringing the cost of higher education down a priority, but my economic plan also speaks to expanding tell grants, because it is such a critical issue for our young people and our businesses. moderator: we have got to keep moving forward. next question. >> governor, you support pell grants, but new hampshire is one of two states that does not offer need-based aid to students. why hasn't that been a priority in the last four years? ms. hassan: i will continue my answer to just say, on the pell grant issue, people should check for themselves. voted for7, 2015, she a budget that had $90 billion of cuts to tell grants.

the day before, she voted for an amendment to that budget that would have restored that. it is one of the reasons senator shaheen voted against it. we should be doing more on scholarships in new hampshire. i was glad in my first budget, we were able to restore scholarships that had been cut in previous budgets. moderator: your option? you can go read it yourself, senate concurrent resolution 11. i can tell you that it did not cut pell grants. but also, this issue about education and the fact that governor hassan, in new hampshire, does not want to allow parents and local school boards to decide where it is best for our kids to go to school, i think that is perhaps because federal education unions have pumped millions of dollars in this race who are supporting her campaign. i'm going to stand for the kids first, not unions, and make sure that kids can go where their parents think is best.

ms. hassan: what i would like senator ayotte to do and agree with me about is to stand for new hampshire constitution. the new hampshire constitution says that state dollars cannot be used to fund private schools. and so we have a court ruling that says we can't spend the money that way, and so we can't spend the money that way. we will work with the people of croydon to make sure their children have access to a good quality education, something we work to do throughout the state. moderator: moving forward to foreign policy. i apologize for my mistake earlier. next question. >> this is first you, senator ayotte. as iraqi forces continue to push into mosul to unseat isis, there are reports of how complicated it will be to defeat them considering how entrenched they are. if this is truly a stronghold for the terrorist group, should the u.s. be sending and a significant ground force to back up the iraqis and debilitate isis?

ms. ayotte: well, this issue is so important. serving on the armed services committee, chairing the readiness subcommittee for our nation, keeping our country safe, we do have to destroy isis and radical islamist terrorists who want to destroy our way of life. what our men and women in uniform are doing right now, we have to understand that we have for -- we have 4500 troops who were there. we have members of our own guard who have been there in the middle east and supporting those efforts. we need to make sure that they have the rules of engagement that they need to go after the enemy and to keep us safe, making sure that we engage our allies -- both our arab allies and also nato to take greater action against isis. we don't need a traditional ground force right now to take out isis, but we do need stronger american leadership and engaging nato in a more aggressive way. our arab allies in a more aggressive way, and we have to

push back against russia, who is undermining our interests and iran at this point. if we don't do that, even taking mosul, the post period there will continue to be a challenge. we have to defeat isis to do all that we can. >> governor, what is your take on this? all, then: first of campaign to take back mosul is critical to our overall strategy to destroy isis wherever it is. i am fully supportive of the campaign to do it. i think we are doing it in the right way with iraqi forces taking the lead and the united states doing the airstrikes and providing support and training with special operations. i am particularly proud of the new hampshire national guard for its support and training activities in the middle east, and i hope everyone viewing tonight keeps the men and women of the guard in their thoughts and prayers. i have laid out a clear plan to defeat isis.

it includes increasing airstrikes, making sure our special operations forces are going after command and control of isis, as well as doing the support and training they are doing. surging intelligence, working with international allies to make sure we're arming moderate forces. it is long past time for the united states congress to take up and pass a revised new authorization of use of military force so the american people are clear about what it will take to destroy isis. >> would you support sending a significant ground force? it isssan: no, i think appropriate, the level of support and training that our special operations are doing, but i do not support ongoing continuous ground troops. >> as a result of the fighting in and around muscle, the yuan's is -- expect more than a million civilians to be affected. governor hassan, you were the only democratic governor to call for a temporary ban on syrian refugees coming into the u.s.

several months later, you said the federal government had improved its coming occasions with state governments about who is coming in. how did the communications improves specifically, and how many more syrians, if any, should the u.s. allowing going forward? thehassan: thank you for question. as governor, the security of my state is always the first priority i have. after the attack in paris, i thought when the fbi and cia directors expressed concern about whether our refugee vetting system was working, as it was supposed to, as the guidelines and policies laid out on paper said it was supposed to, i thought it was appropriate for the administration to take a temporary pause and really do the kind of audit you need to address the concerns raised by the cia and fbi. that is something i still think they should do, and i'm disappointed they did not. they did improve communications in terms of giving us more regular updates about refugees coming in, but at the end of the day, what we should be doing is focusing on making sure our vetting system is better.

we should be making sure all of our entryways, including the visa waiver system, is better, monitoring social media, and working with our european allies on their information and vetting processes, as well. moderator: just to be clear, do you believe a ban still needs to be in place? ms. hassan: i think a temporary pause makes a lot of sense. i still do, so we can address the concerns that have been raised. moderator: senator, please. ms. ayotte: certainly serving on the armed services committee, this issue -- unless we can guarantee that someone coming here from that region has no connection to isis, they should not come here. unfortunately, in the senate, we had votes on strengthening that vetting system, including requiring our national security advisers and making sure the armed services had to certify that no one coming here was a threat. that got blocked by the senate

democrats, and this is an issue that has not been addressed. president obama keeps pushing to have more of these refugees who have come here, in terms of more communication, i have not heard what that is. my concerns are that we know isis is purposely trying to infiltrate the refugee population. we have heard that in the armed services committee from our commanders in europe, from our top intelligence officials, and hillary clinton wants to bring more refugees in here. we have not heard how that is going to work when we still don't have the information to know that some of these refugees, whether or not they're connected with isis or not. moderator: moving forward to the everybody's favorite get along topic, the affordable care act. obamacare,, under employer health cam -- health care premiums have gone up $5,000. the obama administration

announced that individual premiums would go up 25% nationally. although the rates are lower in new hampshire, some plans as high as 15%. how can you tell mom and pop businesses that the aca is a good deal for them? ms. hassan: first of all as many , of our viewers you know, my husband tom and i have two children, the oldest of whom has severe and pervasive physical disabilities and medical conditions that go with that. at various times, ben has had nine or 10 doctors and over a dozen medications, so we are well aware of the strengths and flaws of our health care system. the affordable care act certainly needs some very important improvements, but we can't go back to a time before the aca, where people with pre-existing conditions could not get coverage. we cannot go back to a time where students could not stay or young people could not stay on their parents' health insurance. we know for small businesses there are some real challenges with aca. but one of the things that aca allowed us to do in new

hampshire was put together a bipartisan medicaid expansion, which is providing health care to over 50,000 hard-working people. if you repeal the aca, you pull the rug out from those folks. and my opponent has voted to repeal medicaid expansion now five times. we know we should improve the aca, but we cannot just repeal it. >> this is another issue where voters are skeptical anything is going to change. the house republican congress has 40 times past a repeal of obamacare, all have fallen flat. tonight, what can you say can honestly be accomplished next year in congress so that people continue to have health insurance but it is not outrageously expensive? ms. ayotte: this is such an important issue, because i am hearing from so many people in new hampshire about hired to double's, higher premiums. and the affordable care act is not so affordable for new hampshire

families, and especially small businesses. having roundtables with small business owners, my husband has a small business, but others who are hearing very significant increases that they are getting, especially for those small business owners. one thing if you elect to , governor hassan to the senate, you are going to be in a position where we won't make changes to address more competition, choice, transparency, and really, making sure we drive down health care costs. she talks about my votes. i did vote five times to see if we could repeal and replace the affordable care act, but i have also voted when it came to a vote on medicaid expansion to expand that for two years so we could have more flexibility for states in serving those populations. i do not want to go backward on pre-existing conditions, but if we don't make changes to this law, instead of one-size-fits-all from washington -- which hillary clinton wants to expand, not address the rising cost -- that so many are struggling for in new hampshire. moderator: thank you. take 30 seconds.

said there would be improvement. give an example. ms. hassan: first of all our , medicaid expansion -- bipartisan -- in new hampshire is a state specific solution that senator ayotte has voted to repeal. when you think about what the improvements are, we need to, among other things, lower the cost of prescription drugs. one of the things that senator ayotte has failed to do in the senate is stand up and allow medicare to negotiate for prescription dark -- drug prices, something i support. she has voted against allowing us to import prescription drugs from canada, which would add competition. she has stood with big pharma as they have been a major donor to her campaigns, and that is my -- that is one of the differences between the two of us one of the major things we , could do to lower health care costs. moderator: governor, thank you very much. talk about donors, and well documented this is , going to be the most expensive race in state history -- $100 million have been spent in outside money, much of it on

negative attacks against both of you. you are able to deny ownership since you can't coordinate with third-party groups. but tonight i want to ask you, what is the most unfair negative ad -- this is for you first, , what is the most unfair negative at in this race about your opponent? ms. ayotte: about your opponent? as i look at the ads that have aired, i think in the beginning i called for some of the ads , that came down that attack governor hassan on the heroin epidemic. while i think there are issues you can raise, as kevin asked her about tonight, on how she has handled this i want to work on solving , this problem, so i have already done that. she has not called out any of the ads that have been run against me, and we could have kept this money out of this race. i offered governor hassan the people's pledge that was in place between elizabeth warren and scott brown that senator shaheen offered in her race to

keep this money out. how we would conduct ourselves. unfortunately, she did not want to accept that, i think because you see all the ads on your tv -- she wanted the special interest money to come in this race, and it is very unfortunate because this should be about new hampshire. moderator: senator, have you seen anything that is unfair or has crossed the line about senator ayotte? ms. hassan: first of all, i signed a strengthened peoples pledged and sent it to senator ayotte, and she refused to sign it. but at the end of the day, there is only one candidate standing before you who supports campaign-finance reform and overturning citizens united. i support overturning citizens united, which is a decision that says corporations are people. i don't think corporations are people. i don't think they should be able to bring on this dark money spending into our state. senator ayotte's voting record tells you that she thinks corporations are people, too, because she votes with wall

street, big pharma, the koch brothers, and big oil. they are running these ads against me because they want her to return to washington so they will have a reliable vote for their agenda. moderator: 30 seconds to respond. ms. ayotte: i offered her the people's pledge, the same language in place in the massachusetts race to keep the money out. she wants the money in, because you have seen it on your tv. harry reid super pac mike , bloomberg, over $7 million, the you can see it on your tv right now. all of those false, misleading attacks that come forward. that is because she wanted the money in this race. she could have kept it out. going.e got to get final question before closing statements. talk about veterans foes. you're well aware there is no full-service va hospital.