>> now, a commitment 2016 special, presented by wmur and the new pension union leader -- the new hampshire union leader. the granite state debates. mr. mcelveen: the political as the nation are focused on new hampshire. >> the u.s. senate in play, the stakes couldn't be higher. >> i wake up everyday with a sense of purpose to make a difference in washington. >> i will put new hampshire first, and that will be what this campaign is about. >> each candidate is laying claim to the label of outsider. >> what we see is a system rigged by corporate interests. >> i see her being a rubberstamp the docents best the democrats and what -- in washington.

be going to the wire. >> i'm hoping people understand the choice of the selection. >> i want to continue to serve the people of new hampshire. there's so much more work that needs to be done. >> the candidates for u.s. senate. mr. mcelveen: good evening everyone. welcome to our live granite state debate series from the new hampshire institute of politics at saint anselm college. the top issues facing our state and the nation with the senate's for u.s. senate, republican incumbent senator kelly ayotte and then cut challenger, governor maggie hassan. let's have a look at the format. two nights questions will come from the moderator and our panelists. each candidate has a minute to respond. rebuttals will be at the moderators discretion. there will be time at the end for a closing statement. kevin landrigan is a reporter for the new hampshire union leader. john distaso is a political

we're going to begin with the threat that is emerging at a very rapid pace, cyber terrorism . about 10 days ago, the new hampshire technology company dime -- dyne was attacked. the experts say could easily happen again. some people worry that attacks like these could disrupt the financial markets or knockout target. -- our power member of the security committee. is there anything we should do to stop that threat? sen. ayotte: it is great to be here with governor hassan nadal of the. my goal has been to keep new hampshire safe on my committees. this issue of cyber terrorism is

are stronger agreements in place, including supporting legislation to allow the sharing of information between companies like -- companies and the government to make sure that we can take the steps we need. if it is a state actor, to be clear and take the steps we need, and to help

we should be doing at the federal level to counter etc. terrorism? gov. hassan: thank you for moderating and thank you senator ayotte after being here. to all of the viewers tuning in tonight. my first job as governor is keeping our state secure and our communities safe. my first priority will always be keeping our country safe. among the things i have worked on as adding troopers onto our roadways, making sure that we have active shooter training for our law enforcement, and enhancing school safety plans, is our cyber security. making sure that all of our state employees have cyber security training, establishing standards for cyber security, getting rid of outdated hardware and software that made us more vulnerable. that is annexed up in the

security at the state level are working together to share information. that is also obviously something we need to do with the private sector as well. mr. mcelveen: let's go to our panel with the next question. john distaso: over the past several months, security efforts dust experts in the u.s. have pointed to russia as a culprit in several high-profile hacking cases. last as most likely involved in the theft of data at the u.s. office of personnel management. in cases where u.s. cyber security officials have evidence of a hack or cyber attack, should we counter attack those trying to steal information, or shut down their systems? should be counted with conventional warfare, or should we do something else to respond? >> everything is on the table

particular recently is truly outrageous. there are various acts of aggression, including what looks like -- according to our national security community -- aggressive cyber attacks. we have also taken action towards china in response to some of their aggressions in the center security arena. what we know we have to do is continue to confront and hold accountable those kinds of attacks among those kinds of attacks that among this kind of things that we should do is increase sanctions against russia. some of the acts of aggression have caused vladimir putin's close business allies great concern, and weekend them. everything is on the table, and i think it is very important that we continue to cite -- continue to combat cyber attacks

clearly, whether it is russia or china, or frankly, the country of iran, and other countries who are using cyber attacks, we have to address what they do. that means having the staffing capability within our armed services. that means making sure our armed services have the resources that they need and the technological background to do it. if someone takes a ste w address it in turn. we need to understand that unfortunately, when it comes to russia, this administration has not held russia accountable. that reset policy has been a failure. it is something secretary clinton pushed. we have not held them accountable for their invasion of ukraine, or looking at what they have done in violating the inf treaty. whether it is cyber attacks or

strong in return, you are going to see them continuing to act badly. >> i have a follow-up. it is pretty much accepted that russia is trying to influence the direction of our election. you think they have been successful in doing that? sen. ayotte: i believe our top defense and intelligence officials will pursue and investigate anything that russia is doing and hold them accountable for it, and make sure that they do not have an other matter. again, this means being tough on actors like russia when they are violating international treaties , when they are circumventing international law in terms of cyber crime, and when they are undermining our interests. i have been a strong critic of the lack of action against russia from this administration on the armed services committee,

to do as much as we can to hold russia accountable. we talked about that just a little bit ago. one of the things that we know we have to do is continue to build our alliances with our nato allies to make sure that we have the resources and the partnerships to hold russia accountable or its acts of aggression. i am very proud of the fact that here in new hampshire, we continue to have paper ballots and our voting machines are not hooked up to the internet. that provides i do know our national security experts are working as hard as they can to make sure that we are protecting our electoral system. it is concerning to me that the republican nominee in the presidential race has showered praise on vladimir putin, has praised him, in some ways invited him to make an attack of some sort on our electoral system.

spent so much time supporting the nominee. >> take a quick minute to respond. sen. ayotte: talk about cyber security, the democratic nominee, hillary clinton, that governor hassan has followed on so many issues -- and really has failed to call out on this issue -- she set up a private server transferring classified information, one of the most important positions in our government. that could national security at risk. cybercrime, that was putting information that could have jeopardized our national security at risk. if she is not going to break on hillary clinton with this, how will she break with her on issues where we need to stand up for new hampshire and standing up for the people of this country. this is very egregious. gov. hassan: i will always stand up to secretary clinton or my

have. i disagree with secretary clinton on her support for president obama's proposal to close guantanamo, for example. i disagree with her on the internet sales tax. i it -- i disagree with her on the vetting of syrian refugees. let's be clear -- i let's be clear, i have repeatedly said her use of emails was a mistake and she has said so as well. she has apologized.wh senate race is whether we will continue to have a senator who fails to stand up to corporate special interests, which is what senator ayotte has failed to do, or whether we have somebody who knew after first. mr. mcelveen: you both have been asked repeatedly about the top of the ticket. allie morris is going to do it again. allie morris: james comey's decision to investigate new e-mails related to the clinton's private server has thrown a cloud of uncertainty over the

september last year and have been steadfast since. setting aside a comparison with donald trump, are you prepared to say that hillary clinton is a leader who americans can believe and trust, and you have any concerns about her character? gov. hassan: i think we definitely need more information from director comey and the fbi. this is an issue that has been investigated exhaustively. secretary clinton has said she made a mistake in the way sh appropriately apologize for that. this election, this race for senate, is how we are going to come together and continued the kind of work we have made here in new hampshire of telling a more innovative state. we have an unemployment rate of -- we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. more people are working today in new hampshire than at any time in our state's history. we can continue if we bring the

for granite stater's ready middle class is growing and thriving, that is the vision that i have and have worked towards. i support secretary clinton because she's there is that vision and has a record of delivering on it. allie morris in dropping your support for donald trump, you said you wanted your 12-year-old daughter to know that rejecting him for his comments on women was more important to you than winning any election. ban on muslims entering the u.s., when he called back skins

what about issues like the trillion dollar tax increase that hillary clinton wants? will she stand up on something like that? or addressing the concerns of the health care law, beehive higher premiums and deductibles and co-pays. the flawed iran agreementha that is dangerous for the country in terms of iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, having access to nuclear infrastructure. i will stand up to either side no matter what. i have done it and will continue to do that to put the interest of the people of new hampshire first. gov. hassan: the fact is senator ayotte is still supporting donald trump aired she has sent out mailers that say donald trump needs her and the united states senate to confirm his

donald trump's agenda when it comes to overturning roe v wade. she can try to distance herself, as she did on multiple locations when she was asked whether she supported donald trump, but in fact she said on 35 different occasions that she supported him . she called him a role model for our children. when the political winds seem to change, that is when she changed her position. she has been with her voting five times with ted cruz to shut the government down. mr. mcelveen: 30 seconds to respond. sen. ayotte: these are the talking points from governor hassan. actions speak for themselves. she has not stepped away from hillary clinton on one thing. i have taken the action of saying i will not be voting for our nominee, because i am concerned about the actions that he has talked about intakes --

i have done it time and time again in the senate. that is why i have one of the most bipartisan records. i focus on getting things done for the people of the state. she can focus on talking points as much as she once, but the people in the state know i will stand up for them no matter what. kevin landrigan with as many as three justices. governor hassan, how much latitude would you give a president donald trump he is duly elected by the american people? sen. ayotte: thank you kevin for

have in new hampshire where governors come and as your viewers probably know, confirm those nominations.

>> didn't they way in in 2012 when they elected barack obama? sen. ayotte: certainly the american people are going to weigh-in next tuesday, and they will cast their vote, and the next president will nominate that individual to serve on the supreme court. we have a divided court right now. this i rights and what happens. we also have a divided government. waiting in and letting the people weigh in, i think, was important. i also have a bipartisan record where i have voted to confirm many of the president's nominees . in fact, almost close to 100. and worked to fill members of his cabinet. i have been able to work across party lines. i will continue to do that. i want to make sure that whoever

understand what their constitutional philosophy is, and what their demeanor is in terms of serving on the highest court in this land. >> with regard to the supreme court, do you think it is appropriate to have lifetime appointments? sen. ayotte: i do. it is under our constitution. our father set those appointments up because there are three coal equal branches of government, and that that branch would not be subject to political influence. this ismp an issue where i will carefully review, on behalf of the people of new hampshire, to make sure that their constitutional rights are protected, and a person who serves as qualified. gov. hassan: i certainly do support lifetime appointments, in accordance with the constitution. i am very concerned about senator ayotte support for the supreme court ibaka. what she and her party have decided to do is bring gridlock to the branch of government.

the legislative branch of the executive branch have been at odds. it was the supreme court that served as a kind of tie-breaker for that. senator ayotte and her party have decided to bring gridlock as they have to their work in congress to the court. just as she brought gridlock to that, she has voted with ted cruz five times to shut the government down. only deciding after it was shut down and feeling the political down and feeling the political heat of that here new hampshire, would be part of a solution.

sen. ayotte: that is gridlock. those bringing washington style to what happened with the budget in new hampshire. she keeps talking about the government shutdown. the papers in the state, including the concord monitor, described the work that i did with senator shaheen and other women editors to open up the government. she doesn't she is saying is not true. i'm one of the most bipartisan senators and the entire senate. caucus on the government shutdown. you can look at what people said at the time. i led the effort to reopen the government, and people in the state know that. gov. hassan: i am certainly proud to have senator shaheen's endorsement in this race. i will always stand up for fiscal responsibility. senator ayotte had a few facts wrong, but at the end of the day, unlike washington, what we did -- i vetoed the budget. we had a continued resolution keeping the government going.

did for the compromise budget that country -- that question. allie morris: you are opposed to background checks. have been checking to see if some is potentially dangerous before buying a gun a bad thing? sen. ayotte: my thoughts and prayers go to the families of those officers. i prosecuted the case where we

decorated hero who was killed in the line of duty. to me, standing up for our police is so important, and having in a murder prosecutor and working on difficult cases like that in our state and having served as attorney general, i appreciate so much how important it is that we keep guns away from criminals and terrorists. i also believe it is equally important that we stand up for the second amendment rights ofou background checks. i have worked to get records that need to be in that system that are not in there now. also, mental health records that have not gotten in. i have supported more prosecutions of the law of violations of the background check system. right now, new hampshire needs more resources to do that.

system is not working the way it should. i'm proud to have the endorsement of the troopers and the adjuster patrolmen. allie morris: governor hassan, you have twice repealed the concealed carry law. given the millions of dollars that by program control groups to support your candidacy, why should granite stater's believe you will support the second amendment if you are elected to the u.s. senate? gov. hassan: my thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the prayers certainly go out to the set -- to the families of t us early this morning or less night in iowa. i fully support the second amendment. i believe that responsible gun owners have the right to use guns to defend themselves, to recreate and to hunt. i think that right has to be balanced with public safety. as governor, i thought it was appropriate to people he gun laws that have been in existence in new hampshire for about 100

well by a republican governor. i made sure for those who think they're wrongfully on the list to go into a court and to make sure that they are off the list.

>> as you know, so far, only $7 million from the care bill has been appropriated for the entire

griffin, who lost their beautiful making sure we are addressing these programs. that bill just got signed into law this summer on and it will make a difference. in fact, we're going to be fighting for more funding when the event funding bill expires in december. that is only the beginning of

>>are claims he is incompetent >> how does this reflect in your leadership? >> i have been all over the state talking with people every day about the impact of this devastating epidemic on our

talking with a calling about her sister who is in recovery, but is trying to regain the trust of her children, or mourning the loss of one of my sons classmates. this has impacted all of us. since my first days in office, i have been fighting to get the resources drug task force teams, fighting for medicaid expansion,

>> i have one of the most bipartisan reference. i have worked across the aisle with claire mccaskill on making sure that victims of sexual assault, i haven't got to work

ways that we can get things done . gov. hassan: the people of new hampshire are great sources, there are so many times i'm talking to people in the state, and nobody identifies by party, which is the point. if elected leaders follow the example of the people of new hampshire, who just solve problems partisanship, we can do pretty well. i have a lot of friends and family who happen to be republicans. i have a close friend and new england who is a republican. we talked a lot about various issues. mr. mcelveen: according to pew research, an all-time high, 57% of americans, now in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. governor, do you agree with the majority?

as proud to sign into law the bill that allows us to have medical marijuana. i think that is the appropriate thing to do. i also think a young person should not have their life ruined by a simple possession charge. i was proud to enacted bill that allows our court system more flexibility in terms of penalties. i don't think legalizing marijuana is appropriate, especially considering the epidemic we'reli legalizing marijuana. i've heard directly from those on the front lines, first responders and also addiction experts, the concerns they actually have about legalizing marijuana, and how it could be connected in terms of really dealing with issues like our heroin epidemic. i would not support this, and i working closely with law enforcement and

senator? sen. ayotte: yes i am. i have cosponsored legislation on term limits. mr. mcelveen: e-cig you would to -- you said it you would cap it at two? sen. ayotte: two in the senate. gov. hassan: i think the thoughts box is the most effective term on it. mr. mcelveen: federal minimum wage. what do you think it should be? gov. hassan:

sen. ayotte: i look at jobs that are well beyond minimum wage, because families can live on minimum wage. i think better education in stem and technical education, a tax code that keeps jobs in our country, when there are benefits in washington, one of the things i'm worried about is that i have not been able to support them because we would lose about half a million or one million jobs. we do not want to lose jobs. at a restaurant here new hampshire. what i want to focus on is better jobs than minimum wage jobs. c1 >> we will end on the october classic. i'm sure a lot of people will be watching. cubs or indians? >> i like to root for the indians. the cubs came from behind, so i

series when. >> we can agree on wishing the red sox were in the world series, but i'm rooting for the cubs. >> we are going to circle back to foreign policy. the next question is going to the governor first. we are going to go to college debt this is remote severe. there is a new nonpartisan study out new hampshire graduates left school with loans than any other states. the average student that was more than $36,000. senator ayotte, you voted twice for large budget bills that included cuts to pell grants, money for needy students, then voted against a bill to resore $90 billion in cuts. why? senator ayotte: that is not true. that budget did not cut that budget did not cut telegrams.

over the spending of pell grants. i have worked to expand tell grants. if i were against telegrams, i would not have done that. i worked with tim kaine to expand them to career technical education and also so you can seek access to them year-round. perkins grants, they were trying to end those in washington. 5000 students in new hampshire would have been impacted. senate floor where i fought to keep the availability for people in new hampshire. for me, i had student loans myself, pay them off, then transfer that money into childcare. i know how important this is for the kids in new hampshire. this is very important. when it comes to education, i would like to talk about that more. but governor hassan did to the kids in croydon iv touring a bill that would have allowed them -- croydon does not have a middle school.

school students, their parents wanted to send them to a montessori school, and she vetoed a bill that would allow them to do that. i want parents to decide these issues, and there is a big issue in terms of how we view education. moderator: take a little extra time to respond. >> i know how important about our families and businesses, making sure higher education is affordable and it is something i have made a priority as governor. work hard have an opportunity to get ahead. that starts with access to affordable higher education, which is why i worked as governor to freeze in-state tuition at our public state universities for the first time in many years and lower it at our community colleges. it is why in washington i would continue to make bringing the cost of higher education down a priority, but my economic plan also speaks to expanding

and our businesses. moderator: we have got to keep moving forward. >> governor, you support telegrams, but new hampshire is one of two states that does not offer need-based aid to students. why hasn't that been a priority in the last quarter years -- in the last four years? on the pal grant issue, people should check for themselves. billions of dollars of cuts to programs. the day before, she voted for an amendment that would not ever stored that. it is one of the reasons senator shaheen voted against it. we should be doing more on scholarships in new hampshire. i was glad in my first budget, we were able to restore scholarships that having cut in previous budgets. moderator: your option?

yourself, the senate concurrent resolution 11. it did not cut tell grants. this issue about education and the fact that governor hassan. new hampshire does not want to allow parents and local school boards to decide where it is best for our kids to go to school, i think that is perhaps because federal education unions have pumped millions of dollars into this race. i'm going to stand for the kids that kids can go where their parents think is best. gov. hassan: what i would like senator ayotte to do and agree with me about is to stand for new hampshire constitution. the new hampshire constitution says that state dollars cannot be used to fund private schools. we have a court ruling that says we can't spend the money that way, and so, we can't spend the money that way. we will work with the people of croydon to make sure their

quality education, something we worked to do throughout the state. moderator: moving forward to foreign policy. >> this is first you, senator ayotte. as iraq he forces continue to push into mosul to unseat isis, there are reports of how complicated it will be to defeat them considering how entrenched they are. if this is truly a stronghold the u.s. be sending and a significant ground force to back up the iraqis and debilitate isis? sen. ayotte: this issue is so important. serving on the armed services committee and the readiness subcommittee, keeping our country this -- keeping our country safe. we do have to destroy isis and radical islamist terrorists who want to destroy our way of life. what our men and women in uniform are doing -- we have to

been there in the middle east and supporting those efforts. we need to make sure that they have the rules of engagement that they need to go after the enemy and to keep us safe, making sure that we engage our allies -- both our arab allies and also nato to take greater action against isis. we don't need a traditional ground force right now to take out isis, but we do need stronger american engaging nato in a more aggressive way. our arab allies in a more aggressive way, and we have to push back against russia, who is undermining our interests and iran at this point. if we don't do that, even taking mosul, the post period there will continue to be a challenge. we have to do all that we can to defeat isis. gov. hassan: first of all, the

critical to our strategy to destroy isis. i am fully supportive of the campaign to do it. i think we are doing it in the right way with iraqi forces taking the lead and the united states during airstrikes and providing support and training with special operations. i am particularly proud of the new hampshire national guard for its support and training activities in the middle east, and i hope everyone viewing tonight keeps the men w defeat isis. it includes increasing airstrikes, making sure our special operations forces are going after command and control of isis as well as doing the support and training they are doing. surging intelligence, working with international allies to make sure we're arming moderate forces. it is long past time for the united states congress to take up and pass a revised new

clear about what it will take to destroy isis. >> would you support sending a significant ground force? gov. hassan: no, i think it is appropriate level of support and training that our special operations are doing, but i don't support ongoing continuous ground troops. >> as a result of the fighting around mosul, the un's suspects -- expects war than one million civilians to be affected. only democratic governor to call for a temporary ban on syrian refugees. you said the federal government had improved its communications with state governments about who is coming in. how did the communications improves specifically, and how many more syrians, if any, should the u.s. allowing going forward? gov. hassan: as governor, the security of my state is always the first priority i have. after the attack in paris, i thought when the fbi and cia directors expressed concern

betting system was working, as it was supposed to, as the guidelines and policies laid out on paper said it was supposed to, i thought it was appropriate for the administration to take a temporary cause and to do the kind of audit you need to address the concerns raised by the cia and fbi. that is something i still think they should do, and i'm disappointed they did not. they did improve communications in terms of giving us more regular updates about refugees coming i day, what we should be doing is focusing on making sure our vetting system is better. we should be making sure all of our entryways, including the visa waiver system, is better, monitoring social media, and working with our european allies on their information and vetting processes as well. moderator: do you believe a band still needs to be in place? gov. hassan: i think a temporary pause makes a lot of sense, i

raised. moderator: senator, please. sen. ayotte: certainly serving on the armed services committee, -- unless we can guarantee that someone coming here from that region has no connection to isis, it should not come here. unfortunately, we have added in the senate -- we had boats on -- we had boats on strengthening that vetting system, advisers and making sure the armed services had to certify that no one coming here was a threat. that got blocked by the senate democrats, and this is an issue that has not been addressed. president obama keeps pushing to have more of these refugees who have come here, in terms of more communication, i have not heard what that is. my concerns are that we know isis is purposely trying to infiltrate the refugee population.

top intelligence officials, and hillary clinton wants to bring more refugees in here. we have not heard how that is going to work when we still don't have the information to know that some of these refugees, whether or not they're connected with isis or not. moderator: moving forward to the affordable care act. >> governor, under obama care, employer health care premiums have gone up. the obama premiums would go up 25% nationally. although the rates are lower in new hampshire, some plans as high as 15%. how can you tell mom and pop businesses that the aca is a good deal for them? gov. hassan: as many of our viewers you know, my husband tom and i have two children, the oldest of whom has severe disabilities and medical conditions that go with that.

nine or 10 doctors and over a dozen medications, so we are well aware of the strengths and flaws of our health care system. the affordable care act certainly needs some very important improvements, but we can't go back to a time before the aca, where people with pre-existing conditions could not get coverage. we cannot go back to a time where students could not stay or young people could not stay on their parents' health insurance. for smallin allowed us to do in new hampshire was put together a bipartisan medicaid expansion, providing health care to hard-working granite stater's. if you repeal the aca, you pull the rug out from those folks. iphone and has voted to repeal medicaid expansion five times -- my opponent has voted to repeal medicaid expansion five times. we should approve the aca, not reveal it just repeal it.

are skeptical anything is going to change. the house republican congress has 40 times pastor appeal of obama care. tonight, what can you say can honestly be accomplished next year in congress so that people continue to have health insurance but it is not outrageously expensive? >> of this is such an important issue, because i'm hearing from so many people -- higher deductibles, co-pays, premiums. so affordable for new hampshire families or small businesses. having roundtables with small business owners, my husband has a small business. others who are hearing very significant increases that they are getting, especially for those small business owners. if you elect to governor hassan to the senate, you are going to be in a position where we won't make changes to address more competition, choice, transparency, and really, making

could repeal and replace the affordable care act, but i have also voted when it came to a vote on medicaid expansion to expand that for two years so we could have more flexibility for state serving those populations. i do not want to go backward on pre-existing conditions, but if we don't make changes to this law, instead of one-size-fits-all from washington -- which hillary clinton wants to moderator: thank you. take 30 seconds. give us an example of improvement. gov. hassan: our medicaid expansion -- bipartisan -- in new hampshire is a state specific solution that senator ayotte has voted to repeal. when you think about what the improvements are, we need to, among other things, lower the cost of prescription drugs. one of the things that senator

medicare to negotiate for description -- for prescription drug prices, which i support. she has voted against allowing us to import prescription drugs from canada. she has stood with big pharma as they have been a major donor to her campaigns, and that is my the differences between the two of us. it is one of the major things we could do to lower health care costs. moderator: governor, thank you very much. it is well documented this is going million have been spent in outside money, much of it on negative attacks ads. you are able to deny ownership since you can't ordinate with third-party groups. tonight, i want to ask you, what is the most unfair negative ad -- for you first, senator ayotte -- what is the most unfair negative at that aired in this race about the opponent? sen. ayotte: about your

aired, i think in the beginning i called for some of the ads that came down that attack governor hassan on the heroin epidemic. i think there are issues you can raise, as kevin asked her about tonight, and how she has handled this. i want to work on solving this problem, so i have ready done that. she has not called out any of the ads that have been run against me, and we could have kept this money out of this race. i offer governor hassan the people's pledge and scott brown that senator shaheen offered in her race to keep this money out. how we would conduct ourselves. unfortunately, she did not want to accept that because you see all the ads on your tv -- she wanted the special interest money to come in this race, and it is very unfortunate because this should be about new hampshire. moderator: senator, have you seen anything that is unfair that cross the line about

and sent it to senator ayotte, but she refused to sign it. there is only one candidate standing before you who supports campaign finance and overturning citizens united. i support that, which is the decision that says operations are people. i don't think corporations are people, i don't think they should be able to bring on this dark money spending entire state. senator ayotte's voting record tells you that she because she votes with wall street, big pharma, the coke brothers and big oil. -- the koch others and big oil. they are running these ads against me because they want her return to washington. moderator: 30 seconds to respond. sen. ayotte: i offered her the people's pledge, the same language in place in the massachusetts race to keep the money out. she wants the money in, because you have seen it on your tv.

unions, millions of dollars. hillary clinton super pack, millions of dollars. you can see it on your tv right now. all of these false misleading attacks that come forward -- that is because she wanted this money in this race. she could have kept it out. moderator: our time is flying, we need to get to our final question. new hampshire is the only state in the lower 48 that does not have a full-service va hospital. the vh1's option that senator ayotte and senator shaheen have been working on. do you think we need a full-service hospital? gov. hassan: yes. i am the daughter of a world war ii veteran, and one of the things i focus on as governor is how we can make sure veterans have the benefits they deserve and have access to employment, housing.

veterans homes, add more beds and create a new dimension for it along with the vets connect program and many others. i think we need a full-service veterans hospital, one, because our veterans in new hampshire deserve it. they should not have to travel long distances to get the care they need. i also think it is very critical that as we have more and more people -- veterans -- who have specific injuries because of the new and evolving kind that our enemies and adversaries have, they have difference in new kinds of injuries. we need to bring the expertise of the veterans -- moderator: at one point, senator, you were in favor of a full-service hospital, but you say it is not as urgent because of the v a choice card. sen. ayotte: one of the first bills i introduced in the senate was to have new hampshire have a full-service hospital. i am the wife of a combat

my grandfather served in world war ii, my stepfather in vietnam. we are a family of service. as i think about all the issues that are out there, we have to get this right for our veterans and their families. i have been working with senator shaheen to get the vh1's program right. there is too much bureaucracy in the pa right now. our veterans should be able to get the best care. there should be more accobi committed misconduct. there is no more important issue to me than making sure our veterans get the care that they have earned defending this great nation. i have been proud to work with senator shaheen, and we will continue to fight to make sure the choice program is right and continue to fight for a full-service hospital. moderator: we have some time for you to deliver closing statements. senator ayotte?

and governor hassan for being part of this debate. most of all, i think you are known for listening. this election is not about the negative, misleading ads on your tv. this election is about you and your family and who is going to stand up to be that independent voice for new hampshire with a positive vision for our country. i have one of the most bipartisan records in the senate because i know the only way we are going to get things done is by working together. address our heroin epidemic, or solutions i have worked on to help our small businesses or make college in health care more affordable. there is so much more work to do. i am proud to fight for those who keep us safe as the wife of the combat veteran. the only way we're going to get things done and to stand up to both sides when they are taking us in the wrong direction and finding common ground, when we can agree to deliver results for our state and country. that is what i have done in the

8 so we can continue the work we have started together for this great state. thank you so much. gov. hassan: thank you, senator ayotte and josh, our panelists, and to all our viewers. growing up, my dad, who fought in world war ii the battle of the bulge, would sometimes look at us at the breakfast table and ask, what are you doing for freedom today? dad was father along with his generation -- the greatest generation -- by believing in a cause greater than themselves saved the world and build this country into the greatest military and economic power the world had ever seen. that is the spirit i have tried to bring to my work as governor, and it is the spirit that should inform our work and washington, d.c. unfortunately, what we see is the nation's capital captured by corporate special interests. the choice in this election is

corporate special interests whose agenda is shaped by them? they already have enough senators in washington. or are we going to have a senator who has a record, as i do, of putting people in small businesses of new hampshire first? that is my commitment solids you -- i will always put you first, and i respectfully ask for your vote. moderator: thank you very much for participating. best of luck to both of you in the final days of this campaign. panelists and you are at home, thank you for watching. back here again tomorrow night with night number three of the granite state debate. have a great night. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.

ben hassan is my older brother. he is so funny, and so smart, and my best friend. all families have challenges, and my mom instilled in us very early on the importance of finding solutions to those challenges. and working really hard with your community to get things done. and she made it possible for ben and for me to have a family just like any other family. that's part of the reason because that's what's in her heart... and mom's still that way today. i'm maggie hassan and i approve this message. what's kelly ayotte costing you? you're paying more for prescription medicines. i'm maggie hassan kelly ayotte blocked lower cost generic drugs. you're paying high interest rates on college loans. ayotte voted against letting you refinance at lower rates. and you're paying higher bank fees while ayotte voted for special breaks to wall street executives. kelly ayotte.

that's costing you. she's not working for new hampshire. vo: ending funding for planned parenthood. taking away our right to choose. restricting our health care choices. this is senator kelly ayotte's record. ayotte voted six times to end funding for planned parenthood - putting access to birth control and cancer screenings at risk. and she supports overturning roe v. wade. woman 1: kelly ayotte says she's for women. but it's just an act. vo: senate majority pac is responsible for the content of this advertising. in case. >> this is for me and mama. >> this is the best night of my life! >> it's too hard to speak, so just thank you. >> thank you so much! >> there have been lots of nights i sat up and watched this television show. >> thank you so much.