new books examining the tactics and rationale between russia's interference in the 2016 election. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal. join the discussion. withiday, the conversation the chief justice of the united states, john roberts, from the judicial conference of the fourth circuit, flip 3:30 p.m. eastern c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. mexico's presidential election is this sunday, july 1. i had of the election, three presidential debates were held in the country. second debate was from may 20 in tijuana in front of a live studio audience. this 40 minute portion included responses from the four leading candidates on mexico's

relationship with the u.s. on immigration and trade policy. ♪

>> good evening. it is a pleasure. good evening candidates. of course all of our public in mexico and our audience. the main objective is this debate has to do with mexico's role in the world. we are going to take a look at the relevance of mexico in the world, and it is an end of automatic -- and it is in an emblematic city, tijuana. all of us in the audience are from tijuana. they will ask questions of the presidential candidates. today more than ever we are concerned about the mexicans that live in million other coun. we are concerned about trade, transnational crime, and the rights of immigrants. we would like to thank the autonomous university of baja, california and the vice directors office in she wanted

campus.- ni tijuana this is broadcast throughout the internet and social media, as well as public and private television networks and radio networks. thank you. candidate --ndent let's now begin with our discussion. ofstudio audience is made up 42 people, elected from a representative sample from the population of tijuana. they were selected randomly a private company.

these citizens have not decided yet who they are going to vote, but they have the intention to go to the polls in july. each one of these people selected will ask two questions related to issues involving the debate. the moderators will select six questions that will be asked directly by the studio audience members. question that is asked by one of the citizens following the list that was selected randomly. the candidates will have one minute to respond and up to two minutes to follow up. additionally, they will have a right to two rebuttals of 30 seconds each. those are the rules of this historic debate. you have the honor to answer the first question. >> good afternoon, candidates.

i have a question. based on the uncertainties we are facing right now as a result of the protectionist attitude and the renewal of the free trade agreement, what are specific actions you will adopt to redirect mexican exports to other countries outside the united states? one about the renegotiation? how will you deal with the protectionist attitudes and measures? >> thank you, and thank you for the question. we need to wean ourselves from the gringos. we have to put them in their place. we have to talk to the u.s. president the way you need to talk to a president. sometimes, when someone is behaving in an animal way, it is something that upset us.

sometimes people who are vitriolic will take their own venom. i think that is this case. so we know that asia, india, korea and south america, maybe we need to establish free trade agreements with those countries. also we need to foster greater trade between all of us here in mexico. >> thank you, candidate. >> i maintain that the best foreign policy is shoring up our domestic policy. if we are threatened by the building of walls and crossing our borders to prosecute our

fellow citizens, what we need to do is strengthen our economy and provide enough job opportunities people don't need to immigrate. we will support the immigrants because these people are going to find a better living standard in the united states. they don't just go because they feel like going. we agree with the free trade agreement. we need to maximize our relations with the united states relations of friendship, but also mutual respect. thank you. >> what are specific measures that will be taken by your government in order to redirect mexican exports elsewhere? >> thank you. i think it is a very key question.

on the one hand we need to , reassess and rethink our relationships with the united states. 80% of our exports go to the united states. people say you don't make many mistakes. you make one mistake and you have to deal with the consequences. one historic error was to receive donald trump, who was attacking mexican people. he says you have to provoke the opponent and if he is weak, we smash him, and if he is strong, we negotiate. when my opponent is weak, we crush him. if you want to be respected, you have to respect yourself first. a president needs to behave with dignity. i will defend the national interests. >> i would like to know, what are the specific actions to redirect mexican exports in

order to reduce the economic impacts resulting from our overreliance on the nafta agreement? >> we have opportunities throughout the world and we are going to take advantage of them. before we talk about trade and investment, we need to talk about mutual respect. agosident trump four days once again insulted us. every time he insults our immigrants, their lives in their dignity, in my government we agreement --w any aggrievement of any kind regarding any issues that are not based on that respect. i will not allow under any circumstances that we be disrespected. never. that is my commitment to you. >> thank you, candidate. now let's continue with questions.

>> candidate, the difficulty with the free trade agreement negotiations are not understandable without the presidency of president trump. when donald trump announced he was going to be president, 90 seconds before he started attacking mexico, he called the mexicans criminals, drug traffickers, rapists, and he has not stopped since. he has offended millions of mexican families. you said you will ask president trump for respect. how do you measure that respect? give me one specific parameter that is measurable so we can realize if donald trump is respecting us, and how do we achieve that? through moral authority. the president of mexico has not had that moral authority. at the same time, not the political authority.

donald trump has offended mexico, he has offended the government of mexico. he said of the government is corrupt. a funny thing. i have to accept that. it hurts, to have to admit that, that the government of mexico is corrupt. but i don't allow foreign governments to say that. i understand that. but give me a parameter that is measurable. something quantifiable. >> honesty. >> you are talking about the relations between the united states and mexico. >> the government of mexico must be honest. we cannot simply shine a light onto the street and inside a house we are dark. the government of mexico --

they are conducting negotiations that mexico wanted. >> i understand, but my question is, you talked about exporting, for example, corn. let us say trump is going to impose measures against the avocado exports. that could be a trade war. that would hurt our economy. what are you going to do? >> let's understand ourselves. we are going to negotiate with trump with authority, sovereignty, with something previous government in mexico have not done, because they do not have the moral authority. because they are corrupt governments.

we are going to change the relationship and donald trump is going to have to learn to respect us, i can assure you that. >> thank you. candidate meade, your rebuttal. >> i want to respond, what can we do to diversify trade? i have good news. major free ago, a trade agreement was negotiated so that we can export goods to the third-largest trade area in the world, japan, korea, we know that his party either does not know what must be done or they do not want to progress. in this debate, if the intention is to attack me, that is understandable. we are ahead by 25 points in the

polls. they are hoping to gain some lost ground here to overcome their disadvantage. it's not going to work. i'm not going to fall for any provocation. >> a very specific question was obrador, and as usual, he has not answered. mexico needs the united states. but the u.s. also needs mexico. why do we ask for visa for people coming from countries that are antagonistic to the united states so that we can maintain enforcement? how many terrorists come to the united states from mexico? zero. let's put all of our current on the table firmly. >> candidate, your first rebuttal. how will we replace the corn exports you were talking about? >> we need to step up to the plate and not allow any offensive behavior.

either trade or in other areas. >> an advantage in the polls is not enough. --pite those poll results what if on july 1 you are elected president of mexico and declared through the hamburger strategy you will negotiate with the united states. assume that doesn't work, and you wake up and you get this horrible twitter financing that the trade agreement is now going to be nullified between mexico and the united states and canada. what are you going to do? >> the free trade agreement is

not enough in itself. we have the capacity to negotiate and trade with any other part of the world. we have to get rid of this idea we are just a mouse that can't do anything. i don't have a plan b. i have two or three plan a's. >> what is your other plan a? inwe need to be very clear our negotiations with president trump so he does not call us animals. we are going to be speaking directly at him so he understands fully. he sent his son-in-law. i'm going to negotiate, i'm going to speak frankly with him. in the free-trade agreement, we can talk not just about trade. we also needs talk about the integrity of people and of the free trade agreements of the past.

we negotiated everything in trade. yet we didn't include banks or oil. you would include those. >> you would include those in a renegotiation of the nafta agreement. >> yes, but we need established conditions. away.e that >> you are talking about expropriation for banks? >> we are going to ensure the u.s. understands we have our own cards. i have a team working on this. there is an alternative. not just with the nafta free-trade agreement. we have to look at other countries, other markets that will allow mexico -- >> excuse me, let's get back to the banking sector. are you talking about expropriating banks? what are you negotiating exactly? >> what was not negotiated in the previous nafta agreement.

>> are you telling me you would be willing to expropriate a bank? if the americans continue with this handed approach, we need to not give everything away. we need to wean ourselves from the americans. we need to talk on equal footing. >> would you be willing to expropriate something else? we hardly have any time left. tell me yes or no. >> lesley vance there and i will insert -- let's leave it there answer later. >> thank you, candidate area let this situation we find ourselves in would not be happening if donald trump had not been elected president. you were foreign minister with president trump came on the political scene. several voices criticized you for dealing with donald trump threats with such timidity. in the scenario in washington, there was a candidate who was

highly anti-mexican, for the first time in the history of the united states, and openly anti-mexican candidate. so i ask you, were you mistaken as a foreign minister? should he has been more firm with trump? >> i never thought he would win. very few believed. even that day on election day i did not think he was going to be elected. it was a surprise, the election. face scenario we that is very encompassing and very complex. we were clear in denouncing his racism, his ignorance. >> how would you measure these results? when trump ran for president he said that the remittances would end, that we would have a cross-border tax, that there would be raids conducted, trade

agreements would be canceled. today, with all of the challenges, many of those threats that were on the horizon have come to the forefront. >> the government of mexico invited mr. trump. the economist magazine said this was unforgivable and inexplicable. seven out of every 10 mexicans said they were offended by his visits to mexico. you declared president trump had served mexico, that trump no longer saw mexico as a threat or ally -- as an ally. a year later, it is not the case. i do not see it. how do you respond? >> i see it many ways. right now people are living in fear. let me answer. we know there is a government here that calls and animals and we say that is unacceptable. what was the threat we face last year?

last year it was thought with a new administration, the u.s. withdrew from the free trade agreement. he said he was going to leave the paris climate agreement. >> that is not what i'm asking. the question is, yes or no? was president nieto wrong in inviting president trump? if you look at the result, they withdrew from tpp, the nuclear agreement, withdrawn. the u.n. immigration agreement, withdrew. the paris agreement they have withdrawn from. now we want everyone to know, we want immigrants to know as well, we are not going to rest until assured your safety. we will work with civil society, with litigation, so we do not face that. >> candidate anaya, president of france macron tried to make friends with some of -- friends

with donald trump. he took him around paris. he showed him the eiffel tower. he went to the white house and they planted a tree together. macron wanted to convince the president to respect the paris climate agreement and he was unsuccessful. you said you have to confront trump. youn interview, you said would say, excuse me, just leave. that confrontation policy has not been attempted by kim jong-un. with a free trade agreement on the table, how far do you think he would go with that confrontation approach? >> i said it very clearly. in politics, you do not make many mistakes. you make one big mistake and you are dealing with consequences. it was one mistake that was made.

the humiliation of the mexican people, when this gentleman was insulting and attacking mexicans, calling us rapists and murderers, they gave him the red carpet treatment. even in the books he has published, he likes to provoke. he likes to provoke the adversary to see how they react. the question is, are you going to confront donald trump with total firmness and dignity to get that mutual respect -- >> but how? how? >> in terms of security. they need us. we have a 3000 kilometer border. dating back to the 1990's, the terrorist attacks, how many terrorists have entered the u.s. from mexico? zero. which country does texas export the most? mexico by far. texas exports more goods to mexico than all the u.s. exports to japan.

we want that relationship of mutual respect. >> if you do not respect yourself, you are not going to get respect from others. i understand that. the former foreign minister suggests we need to draw a suspend and even cooperation issues. are you going to suspend cooperation issues? could you or any of the candidates? you're going to be in office for six years. president trump may be here for eight years. your father, who was a brilliant intellectual, said the bullies can never be placated. you have to confront them because they only respect those people who respect themselves. we have to put all our cards on the table. everything has to do with relationship. when he sees firmness and dignity shown by mexicans, we will gain that respect.

a president that behaves with dignity and fully defends our national interests. we put everything on the table, all our cards. it's going to be a one-on-one negotiation. in those negotiations you get fruitful, positive results and -- when you behave with firm courage and determination. >> i think courage is something you see when mexico faces an adversary that threatens. if you don't face them, you don't tell them where the boundaries are, if you don't have that, what kind of relationship can we expect? what are we going to give up? that red line, those boundaries are respected, then diplomacy will work. it is not hiding behind the border and throwing insults.

>> do you have any rebuttal? >> do i have time? >> yes. this is your rebuttal time. >> i believe you need to strengthen our national economy first. we need to take it out of its neglect. we need to strengthen our export markets, agricultural commodities, not just depend on oil exports. if we do this, we will be stronger and we will not be at the mercy of any foreign government. >> candidate anaya. in order for their to be jobs, you have to foster greater investment. when you were mayor of mexico city, -- let me hang on first.

the investments dropped sharply. we have the reports here. investments dropped precipitously when you were the head of the government of mexico city. when you don't have investments, you don't have jobs. how do you explain? >> i think the whole thing gets back to all three candidates. they are all deceiving the mexican people. one with slogans of peace and love. in all three positions, he could not answer. he talks about trump, but his three children are in the united states. all three of them are not going to be able to talk about trump because the have the same background. >> let's move on to the second segment of our discussion. a very important question you

wanted to raise. >> the indignities the immigrants are suffering, the way they are treating his -- treated is terrible. we saw the massacre, and recently the way immigrants have been treated, and even immigrants that were kidnapped by criminal groups. my question is, how do you help those immigrants who cross into mexico, whether they are central , african, sotian that we can have that moral authority and ask for our mexican immigrants to be treated with dignity in the united states? >> let me recap some information getting back to the humanitarian crisis.

according to amnesty international, mexico exports more refugees to central america than the united states. two thirds of the central americans that go through mexico have been victims of some type of violence. one third of women have been sexually attacked in our country. one third going through our country. >> i think this is very important to mention -- we have to treat them well. we have been losing that humanity in our governments. with these three political parties, they have proposed all of these problems that mexico is facing. if we stop just looking northward, we also need to look southward. if we turn into another

california, the potential is huge, and we can contain immigration in a humane manner. all those that go across mexico should be able to do it with dignity. authorities should stop persecuting people. they should understand and to go and allow people into the united states. they go to the united states because they have jobs that pay better, better living conditions. >> thank you, candidate. >> i think you are right. we are not going to have any moral authority if we ask the united states to treat our immigrants well, how can we do that if we are not treating the central americans coming to our country with dignity? we need to set an example. we need to cooperate with central american countries and show them that one peso invested in cooperation is worth more

than a peso invested in a ridiculous wall such as the one donald trump wants to build. i think we have to do many things in order to confront the problem. thatrats -- immigrants come in include unaccompanied children, adolescents, that are facing the abuses that were mentioned. we need to invest in health first care, we need to address the needs of immigrants. inry time we see a child adolescence in the immigration process, they are also many times faced with severe health problems. we need to have immigration hand-in-hand with health care. let me just mention, the challenge is so great, the government needs to work as a team. the churches are part of that team. they are a major partner and can help us a lot in dealing with

these places. >> candidate lopez obrador. >> i think it is up to us to continue negotiating the free trade agreement. we should include not only trade issues, we also need to increase salaries. we should propose to the united states government that we sign an agreement similar to the alliance for progress that would include canada, the united states, mexico, and central american countries, so we can launch projects in central america and mexico aimed at at creating aimed more jobs, improve living conditions. that is the proposal that gets to the root causes. it is not just trade that should concern us, but improving living standards.

it is what motivates people to leave their country and move elsewhere. >> is interesting. president trump only praises mexico in one thing. and general for him john kelly, the southern border should be the first line of defense in america. she likes the idea of of militarizing that. following that, should the southern border be a line of defense, or a point of entrance for the refugees? >> first of all, those who are fleeing war, fleeing natural disasters, need to be received with open arms. let me recognize the people of tijuana. fromaitians coming here the poorest country in latin america, from a natural disaster, were received in a way

that donald trump does not want to receive the mexicans. we have seen how they have been integrated into society, how they are creating new families, working with dignity, with loyalty to the country that opened its doors. that is the kind of mexico i want. a mexico that is generous, that opens its arms to brothers and sisters who are suffering from elsewhere. once we do that, we will have the moral authority to demand the united states do the same thing. central are one thing, americans are different because guatemala, honduras, for different reasons they want to the immigrants. many of them are leaving from violence.

they don't want to just across mexico, they want to take advantage -- if we change the southern border into another magnet for development, that way we can empower, strengthen relations we have for many years that predates these crises and provide central americans and mexicans more dignity so that we can coexist peacefully, so that we will benefit mutual prosperity. >> i know that we will establish tijuana, a national immigration institute. we know that our neighbors to the north would like us to continue to do their dirty work

and detain central american immigrants on our border who are looking for better living standards. people who are fleeing because of extreme poverty and violence. the next democratically elected leader of mexico has decided that institution, the national immigration institute will be here in tijuana. the transit and movement we were talking about earlier can be contained, but without any act of violence. you have to respect the people's dignity. today we have no longer borders. people can do many things. we need to work on this relationship, not only with governments but individuals.

the southeastern part of the country -- for example we see people going to tijuana, sonora, we can contain in the southeastern part of the country all those people by giving them jobs, improving infrastructure, improving opportunities. but because of the political parties, and all these political parties have governed these states -- they have not done their job. we need to create coalitions in order to improve standards. providing asylum is very complicated in mexico. would you consider changing the system in order to ensure mexico receives more central american immigrants? >> of course. and we have elementary law -- let's treat fellow citizens the way we want to be treated. want the united states to treat our immigrants with dignity. we demand -- for example,

haitians are asking asylum and being refused. mexican law is very rigid in this area. we need cooperation with central america, with those countries that have sent these people, we also need to have the right legislation. we hope that our neighbors also have one we are talking about refugees and immigrants. >> would you like to add to that? >> if we improve our legislation and our procedures, we can provide better services. >> a lot of that immigration is associated also with -- it is linked to human trafficking, money laundering, and other criminal enterprises. that is why we have to strike the right balance between immigrants who come here with

are notess, who committing any crimes and those who are encouraging criminal activities, and many of them are victims. we have to look at these areas separately. >> candidate lopez obrador. >> i reiterate that we need to have a cooperation for development. we have a broad encompassing agreement with the united states -- and let me get back to the creation of another alliance for -- we need to reach all the governments in north america and central america to try to attack the root causes. >> thank you. would you like to now conclude? you have 30 seconds.

>> yes, i think mexico must consider the mexican immigrants, they send back to mexico 585 billion pesos a year. we need to devote over a billion pesos to this program. we need to change that, however. we need to use a lot of what we have been wasting in programs that just provide for welfare and leads to greater poverty. >> anything else? >> just one thing. we did not talk about a very relevant issue which has to do with money laundering. still have not seen transparency by other candidates. >> friday month the conversation with the chief justice of the united states, john roberts,

from the judicial conference of the fourth circuit, live 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, announcer: tonight on c-span, christopher wray and rob growth + testifying on the clinton email probe. and debate from the u.s. house on a resolution requiring the justice department to find documents in the rush investigation. later, the american constitution society reviewing the recent supreme court term. -- rod rosenit sign and christopher ray testified on report that focused on the 2016 clinton email investigation.