>> announcer: this is the steele report. >> ron: this week on the steele report, democratic congressional candidate monica vernon. report, democratic congressional candidate monica vernon. our question begins right now. captioning provided by caption associates, llc www.captionassociates.com >> announcer: now from kwwl, this is the steele report. >> ron: and welcome to this week eps edition of the steele report. as we welcomeou candidate, just a couple of days before the election, democratic monica vernon running for congress here in the first district. she's from cedar rapids. now, as this program airs, we're just two days out and a reminder also, we've already had the republican candidate, congressman rod blum on the show a couple of weeks ago, so his program can still be viewed in its entirety on kwwl.com. ms. vernon's program will also be able to be viewed here a

kwwl.com. check out both interviews. monica vernon has become prominent here in the last few years -- in fact, one of your commercials calls you politician monica vernon. we'll talk about that later, but you served two terms to the cedar rapids city council. she's been a small business owner. in fact was a business owner for many years with her vernon research group and it was just sold to the cedar rapids gaz zet in 2013. she was a candidate for congress in 2014, lost to murphy this year, was also on the democratic ticket a couple years ago with jack hatch as a candidate for lieutenant governor rg married to her husband bill for more than 30 years and they have three adult daughters. welcome to the program. in announcing your candidacy to challenge rod blum, you saturday northeast iowans deserve a representative in congress with a track record of solving problems and getting results for families and small businesses across our community. so what do you point to as your record for assuring iowans who

you're the person to make that happen? >> vernon: i think one of the key things is the flood that hit cedar rapids and i was right there as a city councilwoman and when you have a multi billion-dollar disaster like that, you have to get people together. there's always natural divisions, maybe, between business and labor or other groups, but there isn't time for any of that. you just have to look at what's the goal, and the goal was we you do it? you all work together. and so -- but that's what i've always done as a business person, you know, working with our clients, working internally with our employees, you just get everybody around the table to solve problems and get things done. so i'm not a big one for labels of people. i always say, when people wanted to help us build a homeless

or dratz, we just said come in and help us. >> ron: so you see yourself as a bridge builder, a coalition builder, and do you see your opponent as the opposite of that? what's the big difference between you and congressman rod blum? >> vernon: he went in and immediately became a very far right voter. it's one thing to come home and say i'm willing to work with he have been, but the record shows he voted to shut the government down, that he voted for a very extreme budget bill that would have slashed social security, voucherized medicare and raised the retirement age to 70, and many other republicans wouldn't vote for that. so, you know, i think he's been pretty extreme and that's not what our people are here. i think people are in need of a ber economy that would work for everybody, and i think want to work with someone who really will be open to everybody.

area obviously of tremendous difference, and it involves funding for planned parenthood and also a piece of legislation called born alive abortion survivors protection act. so why do you think rod blum is wrong on that planned parenthood funding issue and that other bill? >> vernon: listen, i'm a breast cancer survivor and i know that early detection is what saves so many lives and it did for me. it made a huge difference, know that planned parenthood provides all kinds of well-woman care, cancer screening, and i really value that. and i think that they do an important -- they do important work throughout our district and throughout the country. >> ron: so you were once a republican and now you're a democrat. you were a republican until 2009. so philosophically, did that change your view of abortion?

parenthood, that's the key word that comes up, whether right or wrong, it's that abortion word, so just give us your philosophical view of abortion. we know that roe v wade is not going to be overturned. plng well, that's the law of the land and i've always been a woman who believed in a woman's right to make her own medical decisions. i think the decision on abortion is a tough decision for anybody and i think that her partner, with her minister or her priest or her rabbi, her physician, whoever she decides to make that decision with, it's a -- i would think a grueling decision, but i think it's her decision, and so i have felt that way for a very long time. >> ron: so were you pro life when you were a republican? >> vernon: no, you know, i think most iowans create their own -- they know what they believe in their heart and so i think to

work. that's another thing, i'm so used to working with everybody. i think we can find common ground. >> ron: so i asked rod blum about how he felt in one of the attack ads on him, and i know that you don't directly produce those ads or anything like that, they're out of your control, but you do sign off on some of those. i asked him, one of the ads says rod blum millionaire, and now monica vernon, politician. so when you hear that, does that make you cringe tt have you become a politician? >> vernon: well, you know, ron, i'm a working mom. built a small business, helped my community after the flood and, you know, we had to keep the rest of the community going. politician has a lot of negative connotations. i've never been to washington, d.c., as a representative. i'm a -- it's been eight years as a city councilwoman and before that, i helped my community on boards and commissions and, you know,

i don't think of myself that way. and i'm a straight shooter. what you see is what you get. i'm going to be very open to people and very interested in hearing their story as well. >> ron: i should have mentioned this earlier, but let's go back to the floods real quickly. why is that money that has been approved for cedar rapids recovery and mitigation in the future still sitting there? what could you do as a member of congress, a freshman member of co, home? >> vernon: i think you talk to every single person you possibly can, and what we know is that it was authorized, not appropriated, and there's a lot of finger pointing and i think that's what makes people, you know, kind of disgusted with washington, d.c. and myself included. you know, i think it's going to be real important to say, look, here's the rule and here's why the rule really is not favorable to any community in iowa that i

have to do is find a creative solution and we're going to have to work with all the branches or at least our legislative and our executive branch to say, look, here's a good solid community that's worked so hard, what can we do and how can we get this part, this federal piece so that the flood protection can be built? and cedar rapids isn't the only community across the nation -- >> ron: right, exactly. >> vernon: -- and across our district that needs infrastructure. i know that there are manying many communities that need it and we have to find a way to move forward. >> ron: now, one of the things i've noticed in some of the attack ads, and again, you're not responsible for those, but they're trying to align rod blum as closely as possible with donald trump, trying to play on character flaws that both candidates, according to the polls have, both hillary clinton and donald trump are seen as dishonest, you know, lack

there when hillary clinton came in just a few days ago, you're the first person she greeted. do you want to be aligned with her directly as the future of this country? do you think that her -- some of those polls show 30% think that she and donald trump are both dishonest and have no character. i mean, 70% are on the other side there, so you want to be aligned with her? >> vernon: well, you know, here's the thing. it's our election for our country, for our country's president and you have to with the choice you're given and i think she's one of the -- i agree that she's the best prepared person that we've ever had. i listened to her talk about some creative things about what we can do for flood protection and it was pretty impressive, instead of giving reasons why you can't. i think with rod blum, the fact that he hasn't pulled his support for donald trump is shocking and dismaying to me.

predatory tactics toward women, has, you know, put down veterans and veterans families, has made racist remarks, you know, and i think the remarks that i don't know what i'm going to do at the end of the election, i don't know if i'll accept the final, i think those are very, very concerning things and i get that people are concerned a ul a sides, but i think that -- on all sides, we've asked several times for rod blum to pull his support of donald trump and he has refused to do that. >> ron: and let me ask you this then. the polls show that you've made some ground with this in the last few weeks, particularly aligning blum with trump, and that was favorable until a few days ago when the fbi director, james comey, came out and resurrected this whole email case and i don't think, obviously, it was still -- the

anyway, but have you been hurt by that at all? where do you think -- obviously it can change by the time we air this program, some things could have happened, but are you concerned about that and how does that impact your campaign with those questions coming back about her character and now you bring in the anthony wiener and all these other characters, you know. >> vernon: well, ron, i think that's a case for the fbi and i think people just want to get back to the issue help people right here in eastern iowa. to me, talking about that further doesn't bring one more job. that's what i'm about is improving our economy, getting an economy that works for everyone here, and, you know, that's where i've spent my time. you know, these things are happening, they don't really have anything to do with me here. you know, certainly that will affect the election, but i'm spending my time figuring out,

important that when the paycheck fairness act comes back, that someone is sitting in this seat and votes for it. i mean, rod blum was against it, saying that the 1963 version was good enough. i'm here to tell you as a woman, i had a problem with equal pay for equal work. my youngest daughter did then. how many years later? and hundreds and hundreds of women across eastern iowa have talked to me about that. in more at stake here for people right here, and i think that we need to send someone who understands that equal pay for equal work isn't just a woman's issue. it's a family issue and when families do better, communities do better. that's what we want to see here. i think there's so many more issues that are key, that i can talk about, that i can make a difference on. >> ron: you don't think the email situation, no matter where

>> vernon: i think people, as we're talking to people, there's a huge momentum. i think my message of i want to work with everybody to make a better economy, i roll up my sleeves, i'm not the kind of person that sits around and makes excuses or tells people why something won't work. i'm trying to always figure out how can we make this work, and i think people are responding to that message and i think they're looking at me as an independent person who, a, never seat in my life, and b, is always someone who no matter hoot who the leader is, i'll speak up. when i think something is wrong for eastern iowa, i'm the kind of person that's going to speak up for us. >> ron: i'm going to ask one more question before we take our break. one of the commercials against rod blum says he sold his company and laid off his people and you sold your company and i don't know if you had to lay off people, but what's the difference between someone profiting by the american way, building a company up and

is there any difference between the two? >> vernon: i think there's a lot of differences. when i sold my company, i made sure that no one lost their job. i made sure, and it was written in the agreement, that no one lost a penny of pay or benefits. i feel really strongly about that. the people involved in the thing said they never heard of that before, but for me, these were the people who heed about them. we had roughed through many, you know, good times and bad. you know, they helped me build the firm and i wanted to make sure that their livelihoods were intact. >> ron: how many employees did you have at the time? >> vernon: i think when -- i'm not sure how many when i sold. it may have been ten or 12. >> ron: that's what they call a small business, right? >> vernon: always a small business. it was always a small business.

employees helped me out a great deal and, you know, there were moments where, you know, we just didn't have contracts coming in, but they agreed to take a pay cut. i think they took 75% of their salary, i took nothing until i could get it going again, and i'll tell you, in six months, we turned it around and i paid everybody back that 25% that they didn't get so they each got big checks and then i put them so that's what i call great employees. we had a wonderful environment, and, you know, i didn't lay off anybody to take a stock bonus myself or a bonus payout myself. so i think there are very big differences and i hope everybody pays attention to that. >> ron: we're going to take a break here with congressional candidate on the democratic

second portion of our half our and we'll take a break and also a reliner that we have this and we'll take a break and also a reliner that we have this program and rod blum's in hillary clinton: i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. vo: in times of crisis america depends on steady leadership. donald trump: "knock the crap out of them, would you? seriously..."vo: clear thinking... donald trump: "i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me." vo: and calm judgment. donald trump: "and you can tell them to go fu_k themselves." vo: because all it takes is one wrong move.

>> ron: and welcome back to the second half of our steele report this week as democratic congressional candidate monica vernon joins us. she's from cedar rapids. i talked a little bit about her and i think i forgot to mention you're a graduate of the university of iowa and also have an mba from the college of business at iowa so that's where you got your business ck frankly that you are too weak, too dangerous, and too risk y so when you hear something like that, does that get you going ? really, we know these ads, we don't know if they're true or not, but iowans want to know how you, as a freshman in congress, can protect us, particularly from isis and what do you know

people about how they should view you as someone who is ready to go to congress and protect iowans? >> vernon: we have to be strong and smart and tough on these terrorists. i'm a person who believes strong ri in working with our -- strongly in working with our allies on all kinds of world issues, and i believe in diplomacy as far as we can take it, but i do believe when you run into a group like isis that has no respect for human that you have to root out and find their strong holds and destroy them. you have to do that. i think that definitely our country should be doing that with our allies and, you know, i do believe that our military is working hard on this and i would be very interested -- i would be very interested in staying up on all of this because i think that's going to be for world safety. >> ron: when you look at what's

over there, but is it time, from your viewpoint, for al assad to be taken out of that position and do you think the united states should be a factor in that if you feel that way? >> vernon: you know, i would have to look at that in terms of whether we take out assad, but certainly his stance has been pretty scary for, you know, when you th situation there, how it's affecting not just their country, but their neighbors and really all the rest of the world. and, you know, you see the families, the women, the children, all kinds of innocent lives and just good people who want to make a better life for themselves, you know, what's happening there. we've got to sooner or later take charge of this, so i, i think it's interesting that

across the table with me, but i think also strength comes through in a lot of different ways. you know, strength can be someone who is patient with others. it can be those who take the time to get to know others. you know, i think if you look at congress and what it takes to get along with people and to make things happen, you know, when i -- coming back from the flood in cedar rapids, i was mayor pro tem for six of those nine-member council, and we had to make a lot of decisions and i whipped most of those votes. now, somebody said how many republicans, how many democrats are there, and i say, honestly, i don't even know because what i knew about everybody on our council was, i knew their head. i knew their heart. i knew a lot about what their hopes and dreams were for their families, for our community, and once you know that, you can really work with people.

they care about, and i think you have to do that in congress as well. you have to find your common ground and then you work around that. you don't want to label people. you don't want to put people way off in their corners. you want to get to know them. so, you know, i think a couple different questions there. certainly with isis, you know, we have to be -- we have to take the ultimate measures against them. we can't tolerate this as a world. but in terms of things -- making things happen in congress, i think you -- maybe you go to -- you go to make a difference, but i think the way you make a difference when the body is more than 400 people and when so many -- when there's such a complicated group of, you know, all of the executive branch and the judicial branch and the legislative and all the different people, you really have to understand that, but

allies and how to continue to find common ground, and that's something i've done all my life. >> ron: so hillary clinton would like to see an increase in syrian refugees coming here and donald trump obviously wants to build a wall and make sure all the syrians and others are vetted. where do you stand on that? >> vernon: i think that anytimed you're elected to any position -- anytime you're elected to any position in the united states as an elected official, your number one job is safety and security of the that you're representing. that's true whether you're in a city council or a board of supervisor or whether you go to the u.s. congress, so afert and security of american -- safety and security of american lives is paramount. safety and security of our allies' lives, so you think about that with bringing in refugees. on the other hand, we're a nation of immigrants, we're a nation of refugees. i'm ancestors are czech and

they were escaping wars and conflicts or potential conflicts where they're coming from, and so -- and i know that's the story of so many americans. and so i think what we have to have is good background checks, tough security screenings. i know that we have some in place now. i'd want to take a good hard look at those. but i know that if people are good people and just looking to establish theve family, like many millions coming before them, i think we want to take a good hard look at them. >> ron: so the register endorses you and the nra endorses rod blum. the second amendment republicans say is under attack. where do you stand on that? what kind of background checks are necessary, do you think? >> vernon: i'm a supporter of the second amendment. i certainly have many family members who are deer hunters and

other pursuits, and, you know, i -- i don't think that i certainly would not be trying to take any of their guns away. let me make that very clear, but i do think that common sense gun safety is really in order in our nation. and i think that universal background checks are a smart idea and something that we should pass. i also think that this idea of, if deem -- we've determined you're a terrorist or a suspected terrorist, we probably shouldn't allow you to buy a gun either. there's always an appeal to these things, so americans have an appeal, but i think most of those are common-sense things, measures we can take to hopefully reduce the gun violence that we have in this country. >> ron: we have less than a minute, so the farm bill is coming up during your term if you're elected. so how -- what can you tell

industry, which is under attack every session, it seems like? >> vernon: i am in absolutely in favor of the renewable fuel standard, the rfs, as they call it. as a small business woman, every time i drive by a farm, i think about how they're a small business. they definitely are, and i would certainly want to work with farmers, support them. it's a changing world. i would want to help them find markets. i know they can grow amazing here in this state, and i think it's so important to find markets for them and help them make transitions as corn and beans go into other products as well. >> ron: unfortunately, we're out of time. thank you so much for taking time to come in. now tips up to you. our show is online on kwwl.com. we'll see you here next week.

vernon: i'm monica vernon, and i approve this message. congressman blum's smear campaign -- misleading and false. the truth -- monica vernon donated every pay raise to charity and cut taxes for us. but multi-millionaire blum broke his word, keeping nearly $200,000 in taxpayer-funded paychecks. blum wasted even more of your tax dollars on himself. worse, he tried to cut medicare and raise the retirement age.

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