>> now, a commitment 2016 special, presented by wmur and in partnership with the new hampshire institute of politics. the granite state debates. tonight, the republican candidates for u.s. senate. >> good evening and welcome to the gran s thanks for joining us. tonight, we're joined by the beginning with former state

jim rubens was born new york city and attended dartmouth college. he has founded a number of small businesses and has been an investor or high-tech new england startups. he was a two-term new england senator and let the coalition against expanded gambling. he is married, has one child. your opening statement, please. mr. rubens: i am going to show you i am a conservative in this race. bottom and learned a lot from the school of hard knocks. i am a businessman and i have created jobs here in the state. i am a family man and have a son in college. i understand your concerns and challenges. now i want to run for the u.s. senate to turn our great nation around. josh: our next candidate is the incumbent in this race, senator kelly ayotte. >> she received her law degree from villanova.

she was a deputy attorney general before becoming the state first female attorney general. she still lives in nashua with her husband and two children. josh: your opening statement, please. sen. ayotte: thank you for listening tonight. it is an honor to be your voice in the senate where i am focused on delivering results. i am willing to work with anyone to solve albums. that is what i have done, to get bipartan address our heroin epidemic, create better high-paying jobs, and keep our count safe. there is so much more work to be done. i want to keep fighting for you and your family. josh: now let's meet our panelists. dan tui, john distaste of, and josh rogers. with all that out of the way, let's get started and start at the top of the ticket.

him. you told the union leader he is a successful businessman and a good father. are you confident, with him having final say over u.s. foreign policy and commander-in-chief? sen. ayotte: i have said i will be voting for the republican nominee. i have had some disagreements with him. i believe, when we look at things like the disastrous iran deal that unfortunately governor maggie hassan world, that we do need to -- new leadership for our country. in the senate, i have been focused on making sure that we ensure that our men and women in uniform have what they need. i have in fighting to make sure that this administration does not focusin 2015, you told suppu would not be voting for him. without turning this question into a comparison for hillary clinton, why not?

both sides of this issue. either i am voting for donald trump and i have endorsed him and anything less than that is support for hillary clinton. i feel that he would exercise greater restraint in the implementation and use of military force than hillary clinton. hillary clinton and my opponent have shown a predilection to excessive use of nation-building wars that have led us to spreading terrorism throughout the nation and making us less

trump would work with congress, unlike obama. he would consult with congress. i think we would, in the strategic quest to keep america safe, would use article one, section 8. if war is necessary, it would be declared by congress and donald trump would work with congress in this process. i differ from hillary clinton and my opponent. strategy that has led to less security. josh: would you like a rebuttal? sen. ayotte: yes. in the senate, i have been one of the greatest critics of the obama administration when it comes to them releasing dangerous prisoners from guant?namo. unfortunately, 30% of them have gotten back in the fight or have been suspected of getting back in the fight. for the iran deal, this ransom payment and they have taken three more hostages since then.

of making sure that we had a failed strategy. josh: let's get our first question. >> thank you. mr. rubens, this one is for you. it is on a major issue, gun violence. you have expressed concerns about people on the no-fly list or terrorist watchlist buying firearms. amendment concerns. why should those concerns outweigh public safety? mr. rubens: it will resist any attempt to weaken the rights. criminals and terrorists will buy guns on the black market. these feel-good anti-gun bills will do nothing. i differ sharply with the incumbent, my phone. she gave loretta lynch the power

my opponent has supported and opposed new hampshire's stand your ground law. she has opposed constitutional carry. these are issues now that we have enemies on u.s. soil, this is exactly not the time to weaken gun rights. this is the time when we should empower and support peace and freedom-loving americans to use their god-given second amended and community using those rights. sen. ayotte: i have strongly supported the constitutional rights of the people of of the i also strongly believe that if you are a terrorist or criminal, you should not have a firearm. what i did was work to make sure there was a mechanism to protect pele's consonaltituti rights in our judicial system that does not work right.

legislation, but also making sure that if you are a terrorist, that you cannot purchase a firearm. that there is a delay in the purchase so law-enforcement can act. >> a follow-up for senator ayotte. several mass shootings have been perpetrated with people -- by people with mental health issues. neither of you are in favor of expanding background checks. without specific information on mental health, how do you keep weapons out of the hands of mentally ill people? sen. ayotte: does not have mental health records in it. the system i voted for was making sure we would have the mental health records. new hampshire has been very behind on them. i have worked to reform our mental health system. it is so important that we have a system that better serves the people of new hampshire in this country. i have also led bipartisan legislation to make sure that there is early warning and detection and people have the training to detect the signs to

the panel. >> this question is for both of you. the intelligence community indicates that many warning signs of terrorism in the united states and abroad can be found on social media. what can the government do to enhance terror plot detectionpe0

saudi arabia is the world's leading funder of terror and terror ideology. these are the people we have to shut down. you cannot stop terrorism if we leave countries like turkey and saudi arabia. it is a fundamental flaw. josh: senator, if you would like to rebut on this question, feel free. sen. ayotte: i would like to answer his question. having been a prosecutor itself, the fbi is missing a tool in their toolbox. we had a vote in the senate on this. pornography case, you can get basic internet records that they are being limited from getting in a terrorism case. we're not talking about content. we are talking about basic records of when people connect online. they are being denied. i voted to support that in the senate. it failed by one vote. i know one thing -- we need to encourage twitter and facebook. they have taken down thousands of sites related to terrorism.

that when people are promoting terrorism, that they take these sites down. we cannot allow isis to promote terrorism. we have to make sure our first responders have the tools that they have in a basic criminal case in a terrorism case. >> would you support military action to counter a cyber attack on the country's infrastructure? sen. ayotte: i would making sure we need to do what we need to do to keep the country safe. it would depend on the circumstances. i know one thing -- we need to improve our cyber response. we have professionals focused on not only defending the nation against cyber attacks, but focusing on counterattacks. obviously, we would have to look at what happened to have an appropriate response.

russia attacking us in the cyber world. we have not come up with an appropriate response. even when we think about economic sanctions and the first things we can use, the first tools in our toolbox are the kinds of actions we have to go to. we have to protect this country. if someone goes after our critical infrastructure, we have to take appropriate steps to make sure that we stop them and make sure that that does not happen again. attack? mr. rubens we have a failed military strategy omulgated by hillary clinton and my opponent. it is not working. it has made america less safe. we need a fundamental rethink of military strategy. we need the strongest, most technologically advanced military in the world.

in space and communications. when we rethink this strategy, we will be thinking about stopping pork that is being used in military spending. my opponent voted for things like the f 35 fighter, which is pork. she opposes a military base closing round which will eliminate pork. we need to focus on reunite -- realigning our strategy around long-term and short-term threats. and then the spending. focused on t t if you are likely sen. ayotte: to be clear, i have been a big critic of the obama administration for policy. when they withdrew our troops in iraq, creating the vacuum that we saw isis rise from, i was critical of that. the iran deal, the transfer of prisoners from gitmo. this is an area where i differ from governor maggie hassan in

comes to iran. she will not even tell us whether she would support having terrorists transferred to the united states. josh: we are going to move on to a new issue. we are going to keep -- senator, please. thank you very much. moving forward now. it is the number one issue facing new hampshire voters. that is the crisis of addiction. >>enator addiction and recovery act. today, none of that money has reached the states. when will that happen? sen. ayotte: i was proud to support the comprehensive addiction and recovery act and work on a bipartisan basis for three years focused on

advocating for more resources to address this epidemic. last year, the senate passed additional, almost 50% increase in funding focused on the heroin epidemic. that money is coming to the state. it was $320 million. this year they have approved $460 million, almost another 40% increase. yes, we need to fund that framework. i am going to keep fighting until it is fully funded because new hampshire needs the help. josh: to get here? sen. ayotte: some of the resources are coming and now we will continue to fight to get more of it on now that the bill has passed so that we can formally fund the framework. >> do you think the oakley -- the opioid epidemic can be solved by building a wall and securing the borders and having the states pay for addiction

addiction and alcohol abuse centers. what we need to confront first of all is that the war on drugs has completely failed due to the drugs are cheaper and easier to get than ever before. we need to look at other countries. we can look at a country like switzerland. they have a rate of opioid overdose deaths one 20th the rate that we have here in new hampshire. they have incarceration prohibition strategy with treatment on demand. they have taken the money, $32,000 a year to keep folks in jail, they have taken that money and used that money. they have taken that money to fund treatment on demand. i propose that the federal government allow the states to legalize tax and regulate marijuana. i believeew hampshire, should

will raise sums of money to fund a comprehensive addiction and alcohol treatment program in the state, which is woefully underfunded. josh: 60 seconds for the answer, please. play by the rules. shifting gears, climate change. we start with you on this one, mr. rubens. for years, you represented the union of concerned scientists. do you still support regulations to curb climate mr. rubens: i don't support regulations. i oppose maggie hassan and senator ayotte, both of whom has -- have endorsed president obama's epa regulations. 600-some pages, hyper complex regulations that will do nothing. i think global warming is a problem that we need to deal with. the way i would deal with it is eliminate all subsidies and

determine which form of energy is right for which consumer and which business. we also need to spearhead and spark plug the incredible talent we have in this country for innovation. we can innovate cheer, cleaner , abundant energy. there will be a phenomenal increase in demand worldwide. i want to export that product from the united states of america. i want to bring the jobs home. i want to stop buying energy from our enemies. josh: there was not conclusive a result of huma activities. was has your position on this changed? mr. rubens: i believe -- sen. ayotte: i believe human activities do have an impact on our client. i have supported our environment. this is a change for mr. rubens, who has supported a carbon tax which i would not support. i do support commonsense ways to address energy efficiency and

the efforts they have made to reduce pollution in thi state. that is why i have supported the cleanup plan. it is important that we protect new hampshire's environment. we have a beautiful state. it is an important part of our economy and who we are. josh: your opinion has evolved a little bit from 2010, when you signed a pledge saying you would not involving climate change. but the clean power plants you do support. sen. ayotte: i have supported very much protecting our environment going back to my time as attorney general. if you look at the work i did as attorney general, protecting our state pollution from the midwest power plants, making sure we protect new hampshire's clean air and water, i have taken a

tradition in our state. it is part of our economy. i want to make sure it is there for my children and the future of new hampshire. josh: senator pointed out that you supported a carbon tax. mr. rubens: but again, my opponent has supported epa -- obama's epa climate regulations. this is important for folks who buy global warming. best-known climate scientist and he says it will do nothing. even in the rule itself, he says it will do nothing to change the energy mix of the country. what it will do is tangle states with a massive amount of regulatory bureaucracy and slow down innovation the country and not do anything to fix the problem. it is pointless. josh: our next question coming from the panel.

called the gang of eight comprehensive immigration reform bill, "a full bipartisan solution to a tough problem" and insisted it is not a form of amnesty. do you still support that bill or something very close to it? would you sponsored -- would you sponsor such a bill if you were reelected? sen. ayotte: i'm going to work to get that done. we have a system where we have an illegal immigration problem. i support doubling the amount of agents, fencing, creating an entry-exit system that does not exist right now. 40% of the people here illegally overstay their visa. a strong e-verify system and a system that make sure our legal system works for us to grow our country and strengthen our

deporting everyone who is here illegally or giving certain people a path to citizenship, how is the nation to deal with the 11 million undocumented or illegal immigrants. what is the solution to those who are here illegally? mr. rubens: we start with a fundamental principle that any immigration reform the gooand healthy american citizens. again, i fundamentally disagree with my opponent. i supported you, because she promised not to do amnesty. she gets down to washington, drinks that kool-aid that they serve, and voted for the gang of eight. what we do need to do isecure the border. we can pay for this by simply -- we need to enforce e-rify. they have done this in arizona. so that the jobs go to american citizens and those legally

sanctuary cities. here is who we deport. we need to deport illegal aliens, felony committers, and drugealers. i oppose my opponent -- josh: we have a sound proof to that is going to drop over you. i am kidding. we do sen. ayotte: send the criminals home. anyone else here, get in the back of the line. making sure that we actually solve this problem. i have voted against sanctuary cities to end them. this is a big difference is what -- between myself and governor maggie hassan, who supported to keep century cities in place.

sanctuary cities are dangerous. when i think about that young woman killed in california, that should have never happened. josh: going back to the panel now. a follow-up for mr. rubens. do you support a moratorium on refugees from certain countries? if so, what countries? mr. rubens: i supported complete shutdown of immigration refugee intake from any country known to harbor terrorists and any country known not to have an effective for folks coming in. that would include countries like pakistan. it would probably include yemen, iraq, and syria. we have got to stop. what we do need to do, and it is again on my website, we need to create places where these

we have seen what happens when we have these floods and this immigration bill again. assimilation does not work and you drive down wages. josh: mr. rubens, now it is your turn, senator king sen. ayotte: i firmly believe that refugees should come here if they d isis. i have supported strengthening the vetting of the refugees that are coming here. unfortunately, the senate democrats blocked this. this is another area where governor maggie hassan has not been clear. i think it is important that we are clear. unless you can guarantee that someone coming here is not connected with isis, they should not come. i also have to say, with mr. rubens' position, what about

i think you have to look at each individual. there have been some great people who have done a lot for our military. i would not want to prohibit somebody like that, who has put their life on the line for our military. mr. rubens: on that subject, i am going to return to another issue. this touches directly on this issue. when you flood a nation, as they have seen in europe, m opponent has suggested, her gang of eight bill would have added 30 million more. it would have doubled and tripled visas to both of these things would have caused failure of assimilation. again, we need immigration policies that are good or american citizens. josh: bring it home now and talk about the turmoil we have seen in a lot of our communities. what does the term black lives matter mean to you?

the union leader called "black fatherhood matters." what we have seen is about two out of three black families, particularly in these urban areas, there is no father in the home. huge numbers of families do not have the parents at home. we need to be fostering marriage, fatherhood. this is going to require very significant changes to our social welfare system. our welfare system subsidizes family breakdown this is in part a cause of the violence and it is in part a cause of the dissent we see here. i am proposing we changed the welfare system to encourage folks who are married, who are intact families where the father stays in the home, help those folks who have jobs. josh: how do you interpret black lives matter? sen. ayotte: i believe that all lives matter, including our blue lives. i believe the police are part of

leadership to bring us together. having worked with the police in our state, i know how phenomenal they are and how hard they work. when they come to a crime scene, they do not care what your background is. they are going to protect you and solve the crimen see is the police are part of the solution of working together. we have seen it in new hampshire . that makes us stronger. i hope we can see th a panel. >> thank you. a question for both of you. senator a look, -- senator ay otte, i will start with you first. some of that money was transferred right around the time americans were freed from custy. are there ever any circumstances where you think it is appropriate for the u.s. to pay

we have with this hostage payment is the administration would not call it what it was at first, misrepresented it. we have a situation where you give hostage payment to the largest sponsor of terrorism in the world and guess what? they took three more american hostages. our policy should not be to negotiate with countries that support terrorism like iran. that is why i have introduced this legislation. this is also another area talked about this hostage payment. this is something that is important in terms of national security. it is why i have been such an opponent of the iran deal. i think it has empowered iran. we continue to see their bad behavior. this ransom payment was wrong because it is encouraging future grabbed of americans. what we want to do is stop that country from taking americans and stop them from their support

negotiated by the obama administration has been abysmal. probably the worst negotiations we have seen in many years. iran continues to develop implosion technolo for nuclear weapons. they continue to develop ballistic missile technology. we should never pay ransom to get our people back from terrorists or other countries. this will set a horrible precedent. josh: thank you, candidates. sticking now to the panel. senator. the link when college loan balances now exceed $1.2 trillion. after you sponsor legislation that would allow private companies to refinance student debt? could you explain how that would help students in new hampshire? sen. ayotte: when interest rates were going to double for students, i supported working on

the reserve were much lower. so i helped do that and it has saved billions of dollars for students across the country, including here in new hampshire. i have also introduced legislation for another option, for students to have another option to refinance. if it works for them and they can take it, i want to give students options to refinance loans so ty can get in lower rates. i would like to see colleges the more engaged in this in terms sure they have the success and repayment and have more skin in the game in terms of the continuing increase in costs. at some point, no matter how much loans, if we do not want to deal with the cost of colleges, i think that is an important issue as well, and making sure that our students have access and making sure they get the best rates possible. >> what needs to be done to do

serious problem. we have got to go back to fundamentals here. the government solutions. the democrats have well-meaning, but sucking up increase aid and they suck up tuition rates. need to restructure the relationship between institutions and students. we need to remove should a student acquire debt from the college or university and be unable to pay that debt, they should be able to shed that through bankruptcy. in that case, the lender would be forced to, compelled to measure the ability of the student to repay the loan and assess the extent to which the educational product enhances the ability of that student to repay the loan. we need to restructure the

higher education. josh: thank you. let's talk about health care now when it comes to veterans. the first response goes to senator ayotte. we have all hundred 10,000 veterans in -- we have 100 10,000 veterans in new hampshire. why is new hampshire the only state that does not have a full-service va hospital? sen. ayotte: this is wrong could one of the first pieces of gi new hampshire have a full-service hospital. but knowing that our veterans in the north country -- they may want to go locally for care instead of driving to manchester , ing to white river junction or massachusetts. that is why we have got to get this veterans choice program right. this is something i have worked with senator shaheen on. we need to make sure this program allows our veterans to go wherever they want to go to

there has been too much bureaucracy with it. the v.a. has not implemented it properly. i'm fighting to get this implemented properly because i want to make sure that our veterans do not have to wait and that they get the very best care. i have been fighting for more accountability in the v.a. for example, people who committed misconduct who got bonuses. there needs to be more accountability. our veterans, who have done so much for this nation, deserve the very best. josh: does new hampshire need a full-service va hospital? mr. rubens: we have a sacred duty to our veterans to provide the world's finest health care. we are not doing this. the wait list are longer. congress has known about this problem for years and they have not fixed it. this is unconscionable. it is intolerable. i will not stand for this as a united states senator.

working. we need to allow the veterans to choose the hospital or provider of their choice with no v.a. bureaucrat standing in the way. we need to allow the firing of administrators who are corrupt and incompetent right away. and we need to deal with the immense four-year veterans disability appeals waitlist. this needs to be shortened rapidly. again, our veterans need and deserve the world's best health care. this has got to change. josh: lightning round. keep your answers to a few seconds. mr. rubens. you get to start then. should there be term limits in congress? mr. rubens: yes. i have self a two-term limit on myself. absolutely. sen. ayotte: yes. i have cosponsored legislation in my time in the senate to establish term limits.

sen. ayotte: i think two terms in the senate. the house, a little bit longer. in terms of term limits, i think they have to be in place. josh: if it does not pass, are you going to run again? running now. josh: fair enough. as a state resident, do you think the hands-free law is a bit of an overreach? sen. ayotte: i think people should have been able to decide on their own. itim really, this is a state issue. i believe that people can take personal responsibility to keep themselves safe. we should not be texting when driving. distracted driving is important to address. i think people should take personal responsibility for this. josh: do you agree with the senator on this one? mr. rubens: i think the state has made a wise decision. i have seen people driving along, eating hamburgers, doing

this law is making a difference. law enforcement is finding a useful tool and this has got to be done. josh: should transgender students be allowed to use any bathroom for the gender they identify with? mr. rubens: i want to keep the government out of the business of bathroom definition. this is ridiculous. the 10th amendment grants to the federal government certain powers. all other powers are delegated and reserved to the states and and reserved to the states and the people. deal with this. i myself own shopping malls. we have dealt with this issue. josh: ligning round. same question. mr. rubens: -- sen. ayotte: it is important that kids feel comfortable wherever they are. these are decisions that are best made locally. josh: do you think the federal death penalty should be revealed? sen. ayotte: no, i do not. i think it is really important,

murder of our law enforcement officers in the line of duty, so that the message is you do not take the life of a law enforcement officer. i would not support that. mr. rubens: keep the death penalty. josh: headlines, we have seen it a lot lately. nfl quarterback colin kaepernick refusing to stand for the national anthem under protest. what do you think about that? what do you think about that? mr. rubens: it is his first think, but it is his first amendment right and it should be defended i think. we will stop there. sen. ayotte: our men and women have fought and died for the first amendment right to do that. i d't have to agree with it. i don't agree with it. again, i will say, he is no tom brady. josh: if you are the commissioner, you have the authority to do whatever you want to do. next question coming from the

self-described radical centrist two decades ago to a hard-line conservative who is making the case tonight that senar ayotte is not enough as a republican? what is your ideological core? mr. rubens: i am a person who believes in liberty. when i describe myself in that fashion, it was 1992. we face very similar problems except they are far worse. one y find my opponent promised to be a fiscal conservative, gets to washington and votes for trillions of dollars in additional debt. she voted to rate $100 billion of social security and eliminated the debt ceiling. this animated me in 1992. it animates me now. what we need to do about this problem. it is so much more serious now. we are facing $1 trillion a year in debt. we need to do what republicans

u.s. senators with backbone. we need to vote no on these budget and dragged a president to the bargaining table to balance the budget. this is the single greatest threat to u.s. national security and is robbing us of future prosperity. i have not changed on this. sen. ayotte: we have to get our fiscal house in order. as the mother of two children, we cannot pass that debt to our children. i have supported a balanced budget committee. i helped craft the first balanced budget in 14 years. every committee i serve on, i look for ways to cut wasteful spending, including the armed services committee. billions of dollars to a weapons program that was never going to come to fruition. i have saved money in my personal senate budget. mr. rubens: you voted for trillions of dollars of additional debt and the votes are what counts. that is when the rubber meets

against many senate democrat appropriations bills. what mr. rubens refers to is when i have voted, i have voted to make sure our men and women in unit have had the resources to fight isis or the resources for a heroin epidemic that i have been fighting for for new hampshire, or to suspend the medical device tax, which is so important to so many employers in new hampshire. yes, i have looked at these bills to make sure i am focusing on what is right for new hampshire. josh: your efforts to work in a bipartisan manner on a number of fronts. your voting record for the first half of your term is historically different from the second halof your term in terms of partisanship. how do you make the case that your enthusiasm for bipartisan action is not motivated by the coming election?

senate. i have been called a no labels problem solver. let me go back to my time as attorney general. appointed by a republican governor and twice reappointed by a democratic governor. i worked across the aisle on getting things done to keep the people of new hampshire safe. this is part of my dna. it is work that i have done in the senate. i have been able to get results, whethe it is the heroine legislation, fighting for better care of veterans, suspending the medical device tax, stopping internet taxes that are that will hurt our state. i know that we have to work together to get things done. it goes back to my time as attorney general. josh: you have been there for six years now. why is it so hard for congress in general to get things done? this week's vote on the zika virus funding is an example of this. lots of finger-pointing back-and-forth. sen. ayotte: that is why we need

solve problems. to me, that is what we need to do. that is why i do have a bipartisan record. that is why i was able to get heroine legislation passed. that is why i'm able to get things done, whether it was for police and fire -- they were going to tax benefits for family members killed in the line of duty, working across the isle to get national legislation passed to make sure the benefits would not be taxed way, if you could not look for common ground, you are not going to get something done. josh: mr. rubens, you are outspoken about what you believe ought to be done. what makes reaching across the aisle in the u.s. senate to avoid the kind of the -- the kind of gridlock that you complain about?

fail policy has made life worse for americans. the explosion of that, the open borders, the failure to deal with our veterans. bipartisan capitulation does not work. she has an f from conservative review. she votes like any liberal democrat in the u.s. senate. i believe we need a republican in the u.s. senate who votes like a republican. we do not need to abandon values to solve problems. i did this when i was in the state senate. i got the charter school into law. i worked with senator ayotte on that problem when we kept casinos out of the state for 10 years. it is not necessary to abandon core values to get stuff done. if you are doing the business of the lobbyists, they have both democrats and republicans. this is what they mean by bipartisanship. i do not buy that stuff.

going to solve everything for us. but i have focused on cutting wasteful spending. for example, making sure that money that was going to our enemies, passing bipartisan legislation, saving $30 million to do that -- every committee i work on, i focus on getting our fiscal house in order. bipartisan legislation actually take up the work of fraud a that is what i think we need to do if we want to get things done. josh: back to the panel. >> on the flip side of bipartisanship, you joined with party leadership, including mitch mcconnell, who you have praised, refusing to hold hearings for merrick garland, despite the fact that republicans have a majority in the senate and could have blocked their choice through the

charge that it was motivated by the coming election? sen. ayotte: the people of this country lost a tremendous justice with antonin scalia. we now have a court where the nomination will impact the rights of people in this country for decades to come. i feel strongly that the people of this country by their vote this fall as to who they want to nominate as next justice. it will have an impact on their constitutional rights for decades. this is about the people having a say here. that is why i feel strongly that the people of this country should weigh in. this is very important to your constitutional rights.

opportunity for the people of the country to weigh in. when you have divided government and a divided court -- as i look at this, why wouldn't you want the people to weigh in? we are in a position where this is going to change people's constitutional rights. that makes a difference. mr. rubens: can i respond to that one? josh: yes, i was just going to ask you. mcconnell does not want to have him is because of weak-kneed opponents -- republicans, like my opponent, who said she would not vote for sonia sotomayor, who give hillary clinton a free pass. mitch mcconnell aware of the act that there are weak-need republicans in the senate, wants to defend our second amendmt rights.

amendment. josh: would you agree with party leadership and not hold hearings? mr. rubens: only because mitch mcconnell knows there are weak republicans who said they would have voted for sonia sotomayor. the proof is in the pudding again. sen. ayotte: that is simply not true. in fact, groups that support governor maggie hassan in this race dollars attacking me on my position. i feel strongly that the people of this country and new hampshire should weigh in. i have stood strong on that because i believe you have the opportunity to weigh in. it is important and it is about your constitutional rights. i am going to stand up for your constitutional rights, which are very fundamental to who we are. >> a question for both of you. from hezbollah to al qaeda to

terror be defeated? mr. rubens: i got into this a bit in a prior answer. we do need to defeat radical islamic terrorists. it begins with forcing our so-called allies -- in turkey, erdogan's son was the conduit by which black-market oil from syria was getting into the marketplace. erdogan needs to be enforced to stop doing this. saudi arabia terrorts who killed almost 3000 americans on 9/11. we know that saudi arabia is the worlds leading funder of terror and terror ideology. we have to get to the root cause of the problem. secondly, we have to reject hillary clinton. senator ayotte's failed war strategies that have made america less safe. we need to pay attention to our

u.s. soil. contrasting my opponent, this is the wrong time to weaken sond amendment rights because individuals need to use firearms to defend themselves. josh: senator, would you like to rebut? sen. ayotte: i strongly believe we need to defeat radical islam is terrorists. for what it is. when you look at what happened, the vacuum that was created in iraq and syria when, against the advice of military commanders, the president removed the force in iraq. that created this vacuum. unfortunately, these vacuums are where these terrorist thrive. we do have to gafter them. we have to support our men and women in uniform. i am the proud wife of a combat

i know that ey need our support. we need to be clear with terrorists. we cannot be treating them like the jv team. we have to support first responders and make sure they have the tools we need to keep our country safe. nothing more important than keeping this country safe. without security, you cannot have prosperity. josh: time is flying in this hour. we are up to our final question before we get to closing statements. the question is, if we have learned one election cycle, people are angry. they are fed up with business as usual in washington. what can you do, senator, to turn that anger into optimism? sen. ayotte: we live in the greatest country on earth. i know that when we work together, we can get anything done. if that is why i am focused on getting results, on making sure that i do find common ground. i also fight for our conservative principles to get our fiscal house in order, to

of government that is hurting small businesses. our heroin epidemic, to pass legislation by working together to get results and supporting our men and women in uniform. when they go and defend us, they do not ask if you are a republican, democrat, or independent. they are americans. we need to work together to get things done. we are a great country and we can get anything and nothing can stop us when we work together. josh: pe republic has discovered that congress is bought and paid for. this bipartisan corruption where washington lobbyists run policy, they have prevented the american public from getting answers to their problems. it is why we have things like medicaid not being able to negotiate for the cost of pharmaceuticals. my opponent took $200,000 from

industry. it has effects. i believe we need to do something about this problem. we need transparency. the voters need to know where the money is coming from in real-time online. this is why i fundamentally different from my opponent's vote in 2013 to gut the stock act. i fundamentally different with this approach we need a change to this bipartisan corruption that has led to this burgeoning debt and leads to this -- these horrible military policies that have made us less safe. pork in the military budget robs us of readiness to keep us safe. sen. ayotte: first of all, i supported the stock act. maybe you should do your homework is the only revision of the stock act has been to

fully disclosed. you can go look. mine is online. stop misrepresenting that. that money, i offer governor maggie hassan, the people's pledge in this race. now you see millions odollars of false ads attacking me on the tv. we should not be in a position where that happens in a race. mr. rubens: you need to fact check this. ma voted to gut the stock act. it has been a delight for me to be with new hampshire voters over the last months of this campaign. ima small businessman i started and run 10 businesses. i cofounded a drug and alcohol abuse crisis center. and i have served in the state senate. i would like to take my backbone, imagination, and persuasiveness and get cracking on solving this country's major problems. we need to have prosperity back

and get big government off our backs. so i keep myromises and i cannot be bought because i am not for sale. please vote for me next tuesday for u.s. senate. sen. ayotte: thank you for listing tonight. every day, i wake up with a sense of purpose to fight for you and your family for a better quality of life. that is what this election is about, our children and our future. the only way we are going to get things done is by working together. address our heroin epidemic or to make it easier to create good-paying jobs or get our fiscal house in order or of audible health care. i am proud to fight for men and women in uniform for better-quality care and for men and women who work at the portsmouth naval shipyard. those excellent members of our guard. there is so much more work to be done. i know it will take a fighter for new hampshire, but someone who can find common ground and get results.

that we can continue the work that we have started together. josh: thank you very much, candidates, for your participation what was a lively debate. best of luck to you on tuesday of next week. that is going to wrap up our debate tonight. be sure to join us again tomorrow when we host a second congressional district republican primary debate between jim lawrence and jack flanagan. you can get full in-depth political coverage on wco for now, we will see you back here tomorrow. have a great night, everyone. new hampshire college students are packing their backpacks

along with the textbooks and pencils, many students are carrying more student loan debt. ayotte voted to cut pell grants and to raise student loan interest rates. because she sides with special interests looking out for their own bottom line, not our kids'. for new hampshire students and families, kelly ayotte is a heavy burden we can't afford. senate majority pac is responsible for the content of this advertising. kelly ayotte: thanks, buddy. kelly (voiceover): i'm kelly ayotte. throwing millions in false, negative ads... i'm out here knocking down every lie... because new hampshire deserves better. that's why i'm batting for good-paying jobs, to protect social security and medicare... ...and help families pay for college... i approved this message because no matter what they're throwing at me... i'll never stop fighting for you. oil wells in new hampshire?

big oil koch brothers. she voted to give big oil more than $20 billion in tax breaks. they gave kelly ayotte campaign contributions. corporate specl interests are spending millions supporting her campaign... like the koch brothers. kelly ayotte: paid for by big oil; voting for big oil. not working for us. dscc is responsible for the content of this advertising. norman: that's a lot of vitamins there, harold. harold: oh, i'm stocking up before kelly ayotte gets her way on medicare. norman: what do you mean? harold: well, she wants to privatize medicare, turn it into a voucher program that'll cost families big time. norman: uhhh... the vitamins? harold: gotta keep my family strong because ayotte also wants to raise the medicare eligibility age. norman: ohhh... i think maybe i'll pick up a few too. narrator: tell kelly ayotte: oppose medicare privatization.

adult adam: back in the day, i was a ridiculously cute kid. yes! i am literally the coolest man alive! i'm not bragging. it's just pure fact. my god, yore so cute! i just want to scrumple you up and eat you whole! but of course, no one stays a kid forever. yeah. you sure about this? people are gonna know i'm covering up a zit. i'll just tell everyone in school i pummeled your face. you're a good brother. the best. here, you got a giant one forming on your forehead, too. maybe i could hide the pimples, but the rest was hard to mask. let's go! hustle! this is called scooter ball, not "sit in the corner and talk to kevin" ball. i began to smell different. whoa, goldfarb! wheel it in! time for a private huddle! i'm gonna put this delicately, kid.