streaming live on nbcwashington.com. i want to begin by quickly covering the rules of tonight's event. the debate will last one hour, and will begin with two minute opening statements from each candidate. then the panelists and i will pose questions directly to the candidates. i should note the questions are determined by nbc news and the panelists and have not been reviewed by the candidates or the fairfax chamber. each candidate will have one minute, 30 seconds to respond. the candidate answering first will have an additional one minute response. i as moderator will reserve the right to follow-up as needed. finally, we will conclude the debate with one minute closing statements. there is a device that will notify candidates of the remaining time and when time has expired. in the interest of trying to cover as much ground as possible, we ask the candidates to adhere to these time limits so we don't have to become time keepers. let's welcome the panelists, jul ee kerry, covering virginia politics over 20 years.

ben pershing covers d.c., maryland, virginia scene for "the washington post," he joined the post in 2008 as a congressional blogger after a decade at the capitol hill newspaper "roll call." last but not least, aaron gilchrist, co-anchor of news 4 today, lived in richmond for 23 years where he began his career, covered four virginia governors. the former chairman of the democrat nation democrat, terry mcauliffe and ken cuccinelli. let's hear a round of applause. mr. mcauliffe, by virtue of an earlier coin toss you will go first with your two minute opening statement. go ahead. >> thank you, chuck and thank you to fairfax chamber for hosting us tonight and to all virginians watching at home. i would like to recognize my wife dorothy who is with me here tonight. for the last two decades we have

been raising our five children here in fairfax county. the choice in this race is simple, which candidate is going to govern from the mainstream, work with both parties, and focus on those economic issues that virginians are concerned about. during this campaign i have proposed common sense solutions on issues of education, transportation, and work force development. i've also been proud to earn the support of so many prominent republicans, many of whom have never supported a democrat before. the bipartisan coalition that we have assembled during this campaign reflects the approach i would take as governor, following in a successful model of mark warner. just a few weeks ago, my opponent changed his campaign staff and his tactics, probably because he was concerned a number of republicans were no longer supporting his campaign. the result has been a sharp increase in the most personal of attacks. they have been called deceitful

and false by the press. so i expect more of those kinds of attacks tonight. but what virginians do expect from us is to hear how we are going to bring folks together in richmond. with the department of defense drawing down its overall spending and now with the sequestration, the next governor will face serious economic headwinds. we cannot afford the next four years in richmond to be like the last four in washington. gridlock driven by the tea party is once again risking a government shutdown that would be devastating to the virginia economy. in virginia we have a strong record of working together, democrats and republicans, and with the challenges that lie ahead, we must embrace the tradition of mainstream solutions. we need those solutions now more than ever. >> thank you. >> and that is what i look forward to talking with you tonight. >> thank you, mr. mcauliffe.

mr. cuccinelli, your opening statement. >> i want to thank the chamber and nbc 4 for hosting us today, chuck and the panel for their participation and terry for being here as well. it is nice to be in the backyard of where i grew up. i am the only candidate in this race with a lifetime fighting for virginians, whether preventing sexual assault, helping the homeless or helping those with mental illness, a passion of mine for more than a decade and a half. i also served in state government more than ten years and i know how it works. i am the only candidate in this race that won't need on-the-job training if you elect me your governor this year. in this campaign my opponent has spent a lot of time telling you why you shouldn't vote for me for governor, but not much time telling you why you should vote for him. you may not always agree with me in this race, but you'll always know where i stand and why i hold the positions that i do. when it comes to economic competitiveness, job creation, and higher education, i know we

can all work together to make virginia a better place to live, with lasting results. but it takes a governor who will fight for those issues and not for their own self interest. where does my fight come from? well, my italian grandfather didn't have more than a sixth grade education. he was one of the toughest, hardest working folks i have known, whether as a welder or in a scrap yard where he worked for years or bare knuckle boxer during the depression, probably his toughest job of all. he was proud to work to support his family. today ordinary folks all over virginia like my grandfather want nothing more than to share in the dignity of work, and i have a plan that will create 58,000 new jobs here in virginia, creating jobs, fighting for the middle class, and fighting for a good education for our children are priorities of my campaign and will be for my governorship. i have proposed detailed policy ideas for each and i'll begin on

day one fighting to put those ideas into action. >> all right. >> if you elect me november 5th. >> you guys were pretty good there, only five seconds over for both of you. i am pleading, we are all pleading with you tonight that that was your talking points and hit us, try to answer our questions. let me begin. it is going to be a similar question to both of you, mr. mcauliffe. $20 million spent on tv ads in this race. 75% of them, we did the calculation, have been negative. this is both of you. i want each of you to respond to the stereotype you have been trying to create about the other. mr. mcauliffe, the stereotype of you is you're an operator, cheerleader more than legislator or governor, you don't have relevant experience to be governor and a man in a hurry willing to use connections in high places to take shortcuts. your response. >> i am a young man who grew up in syracuse, new york. i started my first business when i was 14 years old because i had to help pay for college.

i have been involved in a number of businesses since that time, chairman of a bank by the age of 30, owned thousands of homes. been involved in a wide variety of different businesses. i want to bring that business approach, that business experience, i think it is important to have someone in the governor's office that has those business experiences, understands the ups and downs of businesses, understands that risk is inherent in our economy, and is willing to put everything in to make sure we grow and diversify our economy. with sequestration, with the budget cuts we have seen and department of defense with $500 billion, the stimulus is over, the next governor's real challenge is how do you grow and diversify our businesses. how do we create new economic activity. dorothy and i would have love to have our five children stay in virginia, but to stayed in virginia, we need to have the jobs of the 21st century, cyber security, nano technology, bio life sciences. those are what we need to grow the economy. we have had a lot of different ads and there are differences

between the two of us. my opponent has spent most of his career in a social, ideological agenda. he has pushed legislation which would outlaw most forms of contraception, make the pill illegal in virginia. bullied a board of health that would shut down women's health centers. women are 50% of the work force of the united states of america. you cannot grow an economy putting walls around virginia. >> mr. cuccinelli, you have 90 seconds to respond. >> thank you. well, in this race of course we've got our ads on television. i point you to the kinds of ads we have been running. right now you all can see running the ad about a case that i'm very proud of, one about thomas hanesworth. he holds the record in virginia spending more time in prison while innocent than anyone in the history of the commonwealth, he is out today on a 6-4 vote of our court of appeals because i took that case and joined his side and we won 6-4.

5-5 is a loss. that's the kind of story we're trying to tell, chuck, in this race. that's a story i am very proud of. i think there are reasons not to vote for mr. mcauliffe for governor. we make that case as well. but we have a positive record to look back on in my case. we've done a great job in the attorney general's office, fighting health care fraud, internet predators, we worked with capital one as we sit here on some justice issues, justice access issues. those are things near and dear to my heart. that's where we focused in this race. i am the only candidate that's gotten both of the major business endorsements so far in this race from northern virginia technology council tech pack. and just this week from virginia, small businesses, nfib endorsed me as well with their 5500 small business members. they obviously think that my preparation and my plans for growing the economy here in virginia is best, not just for them, but to make virginia a better place to live and raise a

family. >> mr. mcauliffe as you get your 60 seconds to respond here, i want you to deal with this issue. you one time said to "the new york times" i've met all of my business contacts through politics, it's all interrelated. we looked at it, and a lot of it is political ties. after all of the ethical woes in richmond with the current governor, why shouldn't that give the voters pause that there's going to be ethical questionable deals. >> i spent a lot of my life volunteering in politics, i am committed, passionate. as i say, i started my first business at a very young age, was successful in business. i want to bring that business experience. met an awful lot of folks, but listen, i stand by everything i've done in my life, i am very proud of my accomplishments. as i say, dorothy and i decided to move to virginia about 21 years ago because we knew this was the best place we could raise our family, but there's a difference when there's an attorney general in a scandal.

gave my opponent $18,000 of gifts. star scientific owe virginia about $1.7 million. instead of taking him to court, ken was being taking trips to new york city, got a $50 turkey dinner. we were owed, the taxpayers of virginia were owed that money. instead of going and collecting what was our money, my opponent was actually taking gifts from this gentleman and he was buying stock and not disclosing it. >> we're going to get to that. mr. cuccinelli, i want to go to a 90 second question to you, second official question, talk about the stereotype painted of you, that you'll use your governorship to push a social agenda, abortion, gay rights, climate change, that you would be a governor simply for conservatives and that you will not consider those who are liberals or moderates in your governing. your response to this stereotype. >> i think one of the best responses to this is the broad array of support we're getting

from democrats, independents and bipartisan groups like north virginia technology council tech pack, small businesses across virginia and national federation of independent businesses, the farm bureau, the police, we're getting a broad array of support across virginia because i have put forward well thought out plans that start with an understanding of how virginia government works and that we can move those plans forward because people can look at my record and see that what i campaign on is what i pursue, and as attorney general, right here in fairfax county, fighting back against overreaching regulations on a bipartisan basis with the fairfax board. we saved fairfax county taxpayers and virginia taxpayers about $250 million. look, i believe, i have some basic beliefs that are fundamental to me, but overwhelming proportion of my time as attorney general has been spent moving virginia forward economically and protecting liberty and our

constitution. that's something you can continue to expect from me as your next governor. you know, the comparison here is someone who has told "the new york times," you know, you help me, i help you. that's politics. talking about a case where he was an unindicted co-conspirator in a teamster money-laundering case. if terry is elected governor, we have to change the state motto to quid pro quo. just today in "the washington post" they have an article about how his higher ed policy changed on a dime when he got certain support. some of them republican. you know, that kind of trading off without thinking through the policies and particularly in an area that's going to make colleges less available to virginians more expensive. >> we have a bit of an error. you followed the time that was on your table there, but you actually have a little more time. you'll get about 95 seconds,

mr. mcauliffe, to respond. >> my opponent has been the attorney general, run on jobs and transportation when he gets into office, gets in office, serves with an ideological agenda, women's health centers, where he bullied board of health to shut them down, he sponsored legislation that would outlaw most forms of contraception, make the pill illegal. he referred to gay humans as self destructive soulless human beings. when violence of women act was being reauthorized in the united states congress, 47 attorney generals signed a letter, violence against women, not controversial. he is one of three that refused to sign it. it has been a pattern. and as it relates to his attack on gay virginians, when he was attorney general he sent a letter to every college and university saying they could provide no protections against discrimination based upon sexual orientation against professors and students.

what happened? northrup drummond was moving, obviously the employees squawked at that. governor bob mcdonnell had to interject himself to stop the attorney general and save that deal, 300 high paying jobs up the street from where we are today. there are consequences to this mean spirited attack on women's health, on gay virginians. if we're going to build a new economy in virginia, we're going to do it by bringing everyone together. >> mr. cuccinelli, as you prepare your 60 second response to mr. mcauliffe, i was hoping you would also respond to what the republican lieutenant governor bill boling said. it is the most ideological ticket the gop put forth and worries it is pushing away mainstream voters. >> well, until he stepped out of my race by a lot of measures he is more conservative than i am, so i think that he has some

comments based on not being in this race. the northrup grumen charge is false, the soulless comment is offensively false. the kind of personal attacks that terry opened up his remarks with today by saying this has been going on are coming from terry mcauliffe. you all are seeing the ads. it is overwhelmingly negative. it is unbelievably false. no one up here, no one up here has done more to protect women, which is a focus of his attacks, than i have, whether it was back when i was an engineering student at uva, and a friend of mine was sexually assaulted, my response was to start a new organization still functioning there to protect women at uva, the first of its kind in the country. we run multiple domestic violence programs in the attorney general's office, and we started from scratch fighting human trafficking. and we've done a great job of it. >> ben pershing has the next

question for mr. mcauliffe. >> you propose more spending on education community college. we are wondering how would you pay for that, especially if the general assembly doesn't approve medicaid expansion. >> very important question, and what i've said is responsible budgeting. first of all, when i am governor, we're going to look at the efficiency of the government, and work for the medicaid expansion. if we can't get that and bring that in, i agree. it is prudent budgeting first to determine how much money you have, then when you have it, you can apply it to your priorities. this is quite a difference. my opponent has proposed a $1.4 billion tax cut per year. he doesn't say how he with pay for it. the other day, the lieutenant governor said ew jackson want to get rid of the corporate tax in virginia. let me tell you what would happen to our budget.

hundreds of millions would come out of education. you could see thousands of teachers being laid off at a time we need to compete on a global basis, as i talked about cyber security and all these very important new businesses, we're not going to be able to do that because money will come out of education. it is important for me to have the medicaid expansion and when i talk about my budget, i say it is important to figure out how much money you have and then you prioritize and put the money in, but his plan, $1.4 billion a year, doesn't say how he would pay for it, 6 billion over the course of the next four years. vince callahan, former republican chair of the house appropriations committee said it would put a hole in the budget. the idea you can put 6 billion out of the budget, not take the medicaid expansion, didn't want the transportation 6 billion. it is like me saying i came here on a unicorn. >> mr. cuccinelli, 90 seconds to respond. >> it is hard to find

inefficiencies in a government you don't understand. terry mcauliffe doesn't understand how government works, doesn't understand the issues of government. he can talk at this level like anybody could if they did a few talking points. he doesn't know how virginia government works. it came out in the tech pack interviews. and it wouldn't have if he didn't try to bully them out of their endorsement, but he did, so there was reporting on it, and people noted that i understood the issues and he didn't. i was a serious candidate when it came to the subject matters that mattered to them and terry wasn't. if you don't start with that fundamental baseline knowledge, you don't have an easy time finding inefficiencies. government is not a good entry level job. and that's what it would be for terry. i know what works well and there are things that work well in virginia government, but there are areas we need to do much, much better. i would point to medicaid, not

the expansion, medicaid itself, one of the biggest parts of the budget. we are one of the best health care fraud fighting offices in the whole country is my office. i learned an awful lot about how medicaid works and doesn't, and we can do a whole lot better just to talk about one area, to make it more efficient, to make it serve virginia's poor better than it does today. but i'm the only one prepared to do that. and who has a plan that balances the budget. >> that's time. when you give the 60 second response, you didn't give a price tag. you have been running for governor four years. why can't you put a price tag on what spending you would like to spend. >> i will tell you what i want to spend. pre-k, early childhood development. that's very important. i talk about what we need to do on teacher pay, we need accountability. called for reform of sols, they don't work in present form, don't have accountability, students are taught to memorize. teachers are taught how to give and take tests. that's not right, how you build

the cognitive mind, creative reasoning. we need to be involved in the process early with progress based data, not member riization tests. community college, we need to invest. medicaid expansion. my opponent doesn't want it, i want it. it is bipartisan. fairfax chamber, jim cork in the front road, fairfax chamber supports the medicaid expansion, so does bill bolling. this is bipartisan mainstream. we will bring back to virginia in the course of the next seven years, $20 million that we are paying in. why not bring it in. >> you don't have a price tag. >> let me finish. medicaid is important. 33,000 new jobs, created, chuck. so important for virginia. >> want to clarify, no price tag. >> it is a priority. >> there's no cost. >> this is why it is important, determine first how much you have, then do it to your priorities. >> aaron gilchrist for

mr. cuccinelli. >> your plan cuts taxes $1.4 billion when fully implemented and you propose creating a commission to find ways to pay for the big tax cut. how do you respond to virginians that say i am not voting -- i am voting for a governor, not voting for a commission. isn't leadership about providing some specifics in this case on tax breaks and loopholes that would go away? >> yes, my tax relief plan was designed to spur job growth and more job creation, put more money in the hands of our businesses so they can reinvest it and in our families' budgets. it has been analyzed and found to grow about 58,000 jobs if we can fully implement it. it will include lowering the personal income tax to 5%, the business income tax to 4%, and by the way, i would note there north carolina two months ago passed a package where their business income tax will be half of ours if we don't act. even if we achieve the goals i

set of getting down to 4%, they will still get under us if they meet the revenue estimates. my friend doug gansler on the other side of the river announced for governor of maryland is talking about the fact that virginia is eating maryland alive in this front and that they need to bring their taxes down to compete with us. we need to compete and do it effectively. i'll eliminate about 15% of corporate loopholes and tax breaks that don't work as well as the other 85%, and will also cap growth in spending at about 3.5% to pay for this package. this isn't the federal government. we don't print money. both sides of the ledger have to match. "the washington post" gave my opponent three pinocchios for the statement you heard tonight of he has no way to pay for it. we put a process in place that will accomplish the financial goals we need to to do the tax cuts. if we don't get the cuts, we

don't get the tax. >> 90 seconds. >> if you take his plan, virginia will be in financial ruin. he did not support the governor on transportation, bipartisan transportation bill. i was all in. $6 billion we were going to be able to now spend on transportation. when everybody drove in here to this beautiful hall, you went under the new silver line, which my opponent said he was the only statewide official to come out against it, he said he would actually kill it after it was half completed. i talk about education. this is so important. we need to invest in education. his tax plan takes 6 billion out of the budget in the course of the next four years. he and ew jackson think we should get rid of corporate income tax. he doesn't want the medicaid expansion. he called for the end of department of education. we cannot grow a 21st century economy, we cannot be global leaders, we need to replace with sequestration, we have seen the numbers, we know what his tax plan would do to local

communities. sharon bullova, in the front row, what it would mean to lose revenue, what it would mean and loss of teachers at a time we should be investing in our teachers, investing in stem courses, science, technology, engineering, math. his plan literally would force us to layoff thousands of teachers. as i say, vince callahan, former chairman of the house republican appropriations committee came out, said it would put a hole in the budget. senator mark warner came out the other day. >> mr. cuccinelli, you prepare your 60 second response. you said loopholes. we all hear that, don't know what it is. it sounds like you're afraid to tell us what you're thinking of cutting because it is two months before the election. >> chuck, what we're going to do with the loopholes and exemptions is rank them. we know what they are. they have all been identified. >> what are they? >> there's literally scores of them. and the standard of eliminating one is what's critical here.

if all we're doing is giving money to a business interest, that's not something that's working for the people paying for it, which is the taxpayers of virginia. if instead out of that tax credit we get other economic benefits that return to the people, virginia's people paying for it, that's a tax credit to keep. those are the ones that we want to grow our economy, but on a bipartisan basis we've got to be able to find at least a sixth of them, about 15%, that don't perform, that don't meet that standard. that's all we have to do to get our 58,000 job creating tax plan put in effect. i'm the only candidate with a plan to grow jobs, other than to say the word jobs repeatedly. >> julia carry. >> the tragic shooting at the navy yard cast a spotlight on gun laws. mr. mcauliffe, as part of your plan to strengthen virginia cities, you say you support universal background checks,

limiting the size of magazines, a return to the one gun a month purchase rule. missing from that list is an assault weapons ban, something that in 2012 you supported. first, have you changed your mind about an assault weapons ban, and secondly, how big a priority would you make it as governor to change virginia's gun laws. >> i haven't changed my mind. it is a very pertinent question for tonight, obviously after the tragedy we just had at the navy yards, the tragedy we had in virginia, virginia tech, aurora, newtown, connecticut, as a father and as a husband, i can speak for everybody in this audience. we drop our children off at school and we drop our loved ones off at work, we want to know that they're going to be safe, that our communities are safe. it is so important. that's why i am for responsible gun ownership. i have called for universal background checks.

my opponent doesn't support that. i am a strong supporter of the second amendment. i am a hunter. i own guns. i've gone through background checks. they take just a couple minutes. we have a gigantic loophole in virginia. you can buy guns through mail order, go to gun show loopholes. there are certain individuals who just should not own a gun. there are individuals that have mental illness. i think this is such a critical issue for us. how many people have to be killed 'til we wake up to have sensible gun ownership. now, i was very dismayed with the united states senate this year. 91% of americans support universal background checks. the senate refused to even bring it up for vote. as governor, i am going to push. we need universal background checks for everyone to keep our loved ones safe. >> could you address in 90

seconds why all the recommendations from virginia tech review haven't been implemented, including background checks? >> of course the tragedy at virginia tech led us to look at a lot of things and for those of you that know me, you know i am deeply involved in working with people suffering from mental illness for years. one of the common themes in the most public tragedies is that we're dealing with people that suffer from mental illness. i would tell you, though, that the more common tragedy in mental illness is day to day, one person at a time that you don't read about in the paper, it is a suicide, it is a family struggling, and they're at their wit's end to try and get one of their family members on a path to recovery and sustainability. we have not found gun control to effect that, to be effective in that area. what we have done in virginia is we have become the number one

state per capita screening out people with mental illness from gun purchases. we're the best state in that in the country. we are also the number one state i am aware of that department of justice doesn't keep data on all of them, in terms of prosecuting those that attempt to buy them illegally. that's the best way to enforce gun laws, be aggressive, proactive. i am running against the only f rated candidate from the nra, the only one of all six running statewide. i will support the second amendment. it deserves support as does our whole constitution, but i will continue to focus on where i believe the main source of the problem is, and that is resolving mental health issues. >> mr. mcauliffe, you have 60. >> he absolutely said nothing with that response as it relates to gun control. obviously we both believe in investing in mental illness, mental health and what we need to do. i can tell you this. without the medicaid expansion money, there's not a penny for any new investment in mental health, not a penny. with his tax plan that would take all of this money out of

our budget, there's not a penny, so it is really just talk. now, whatever rating i get from the nra, i am going to stand here and tell you today as governor i want to be sure every one of our citizens in the commonwealth of virginia are safe. every one of our children when they go into a classroom should know they're safe. when any of our loved ones goes to work. what happened at the navy yard is continued pattern of what's going on. we need to eliminate guns from the folks that should not own guns. there are many reasons why individuals who are dangerous, have issue of mental illness, in a background check, i've done it, it takes two, three, four minutes. >> thank you there. we're going to do a pause for a brief commercial break, be right back with many more questions for the candidates for governor of virginia. after the debate, join me and news 4 for a special google hangout on nbcwashington.com.

we'll be right back. i was honored to serve as governor of virginia. we brought folks together in richmond to focus on creating jobs and getting results. that's the virginia way. and that's why i'm backing terry mcauliffe for governor. terry won't let ideological battles get in the way of making progress. terry will work with democrats, republicans, and independents to create jobs and move virginia forward. it's important for virginia that we elect terry mcauliffe as our governor. i'm terry mcauliffe, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad.

♪ [ applause ] and we are live back in mclean with the two candidates for governor of virginia, terry mcauliffe and ken cuccinelli. mr. mcauliffe, this is your question. both get 90 seconds to respond, has to do with stuff going on across the potomac, a few miles away, possibility of a government shutdown that would effect thousands of virginians as you both know. a quick 90 seconds on this. mr. cuccinelli, i want you to go first. do you support ted cruz's effort

to use any means necessary to prevent implementation of the president's health care law, and mr. mcauliffe, do you think president obama has shown the right leadership to resolve this stalemate. mr. cuccinelli, you first. >> first of all, i am a northern virginian, lived here my whole life. don't want to see it across the river, we are seeing the problems associated with uncertainty of federal budgeting as it is, both in northern virginia and in southeastern virginia in the hampton roads area and that's causing all sorts of problems here in virginia. but since i'm running for governor what i want to tell you is that this is not the kind of thing you would see happen in a cuccinelli governorship as we put together a virginia budget. but ten days ago, 11 days ago last weekend, my opponent repeatedly said that he wouldn't sign a virginia budget that didn't have the medicaid expansion in it. and you heard him here tonight talk over and over and over

about how this is basically his funding mechanism for everything he wants to do. so it is clearest's very committed to the medicaid expansion, i understand that, but it is not the be all, end all of virginia budgets, particularly if you're willing to shut down virginia government just to get the medicaid expansion, which he said repeatedly he won't sign a budget without medicaid expansion in it. i disagree with him on medicaid expansion. but this is not an appropriate tactic for virginia, this is a washington tactic. if you like the way washington works, you will like a governor mcauliffe. if you don't think washington works right, if you think it is dysfunctional as i do, then i'm your candidate in this race. >> mr. mcauliffe before you answer, you didn't answer the ted cruz portion. >> i don't want the federal government shutdown. >> you don't support his effort, what he is doing. >> he finished a sort of filibuster today. at some point you have to vote. >> you don't support what he is doing? >> i would like to see obama

care pulled out federal law, but we have to keep moving forward and get the budget. >> has president obama shown the right leadership? you're both talking about this, trying to save time. >> let me answer the question that he laid out if i could a second. >> the question is has president obama shown leadership. >> no budget will be shut down in virginia over the medicaid expansion. i will work in a bipartisan way to get it done. that is why over a dozen former republican legislators have endorsed my candidacy. many of them who never endorsed a democrat before. just last week in virginia beach the mayor, republican mayor of the largest city in virginia who has never endorsed a democrat in his life, mayor will sessums endorsed me. i now have six mayors from hampton roads. why? because they know we will work together and get things done. we won't have a government shutdown. the only one on this stage that

almost had that effect was ken cuccinelli, when he almost derailed the virginia budget, when he was trying to defund planned parenthood. he is the only one on the stage that actually tried to shut down our government. now, i think it is a disgrace what's going on in washington. i place a pox on everybody's house, it is not working. sequestration should never, these issues that we have going, it was supposed to be so onerous it would not happen. now it is happening. these things should never be used as bargaining chips for our budget. so until they get it resolved, i say shame on everybody. >> including the president. >> shame on everybody until this gets done. >> julie carry has the next question. >> we talk more about medicaid. everybody knows next week, enrollment for the health care exchanges begins. mr. cuccinelli, we know you're firmly against expanding medicaid to give health coverage to a family of four making 32

$32,500 a year. what do you say to them when they could get it across the potomac in another district. >> right now, julie, we have about a million virginians in poor families in the medicaid program. and it can work a lot better for the folks that are in it. 40% expansion of medicaid is not the way to help make it work better. governor mcdonnell took a broad view of government reform, and i have a narrow, deep view. focuses on v-dot and d mass. i had a lot of time as attorneys to spend learning about those two agencies. there's an awful lot more we can do there. earlier terry said we can't move money around in medicaid. yes, actually we can, and we can address mental health more if we move money from one waiver program to another within medicaid if that's our priority, and for me it is a priority.

i think we need to make -- the medicaid system we have now work better for the people in it, there are ways to do that. we are losing doctors and nurses and medical practices in our medicaid program. we're trying desperately to keep them in. that's a tremendous struggle for us. i believe we ought to lower liability for medical practices for those that are working in the medicaid program, like the good samaritan standard that we have for doctors, for instance, that come across accidents. this is below cost medical care that we're getting for virginia's poor. overwhelming the system we have now that's struggling as it is isn't a way to get good health care for other virginians. >> mr. mcauliffe. >> this medicaid expansion is supported bipartisan, it is mainstream. walk through the numbers quickly. beginning next year, 400,000 virginians will get access to quality, life-saving care. number two, this is our money.

it is now the law of the land. 29 other states agreed to accept it. some very conservative governors agreed to accept it. we're bringing back as lieutenant bolling said the other day, paying 26 billion in the next ten years into the federal government, why not bring 20 billion back into the virginia economy to turbo charge our economy, use that money to bring more efficiency to the health care delivery system, make it more cost effective. and if we don't take the medicaid expansion money, then many of our rural hospitals could be jeopardized, federal dish payments, that is slowly being ended. today with a low income individual that goes to a hospital, they get reimbursed by federal dish payments, that may go away. in addition, it frees up over the next eight years $800 million in the general fund, which we can use for our priorities. but i go back to the point, he continually goes on big federal issues, but he was absent on one of the most important federal

issues that we had, the reauthorization of the violence against women act. he was one of three attorney generals in our nation that refused to sign a letter, 47 other attorney generals. i do not know why he wouldn't want virginia women protected against violence. >> go ahead, 60 seconds. >> first of all, unlike my opponent, i do my homework. i called congressman ryan about the federal match that we're promised, the raining down money that terry is relying onto fund everything he's promising everyone all over virginia, and congressman ryan told me ken, it doesn't matter whether democrats are in charge up here or republicans, we don't have the money in the federal government to meet these matches that are proposed in the federal health care bill, so the question then becomes for a state when we're thinking of getting in, whether you trust that the money will be

there, even if you have a plan to fund the state chair, i am not willing to risk virginia's budget when the federal government is already taking the position, many of them, taking the position that they can't afford it, even if they wanted to. the hole in our budget when this is fully implemented now is $200 million a year. that will explode when they don't fund it at the federal level. >> next question for mr. mcauliffe. >> a new marist poll shows 54% of voters support gay marriage, you are among those that support that, but you say the legislature would not be able to overturn the state's ban on gay marriage. why not use the office to lead on this issue. >> and we certainly could. i do have some tremendous challenges because of the issues of economic development, job creation, that i need to focus on, but i have come out for marriage equality. irish catholic kid growing up, dorothy and i spent a lot of

time discussing this issue. what really turned it for us is don't ask, don't tell. the idea we can send our men and women across the globe to fight for us, then they come back and they don't have the same equal opportunities and equal rights i think is plain wrong, so i support marriage equality, and i said that. this is quite a difference from my opponent. he has referred to gay virginians as soulless, self destructive human beings. i made the point earlier. it almost cost us the northrup grumman deal. governor mcdonnell administration official told "the new york times" that his actions almost cost him the deal. i would just go back to governor mcdonnell's administration and ask that individual why he said that then, but this is a very important issue. i was out early on the issue and if we can get a bill through the general assembly on my desk, i'd sign it. >> it doesn't happen in the form

of a bill, it never comes to the governor. to your point, a governor can still lead on the issue but it will never come to the desk of a virginia governor. look, i understand and respect the fact that this is a sensitive issue to a lot of virginians, but i am one of those that do believe the institution of marriage should remain between one man and one woman. i would note that my opponent appears poised based on some of his comments during the campaign to not defend our state constitution. now look, as attorney general i defended laws whether i liked them or not, and as pointed out by a former democrat attorney general, tony troy, a pattern for terry though that's been emerging is that he seems to think he gets to decide which laws and which parts of the virginia constitution that you're obligated to defend as the virginia governor. we have two lawsuits running right now on this matter, and the duty of the attorney general and the duty of the governor is to defend our constitution. if they want to change it, one

could lead as the question suggested to try to get the general assembly to make those amendments and put it on the ballot, but the office has duties that come with it. and i respect the office and i respect those duties. i respect virginia's history. and this is part of it now. it may change in the future, but right now the next governor is obligated to defend our constitution and i intend to do that. >> mr. mcauliffe. >> i will support legislation that allows equal rights for individuals, for gay virginians. i said continuously that my opponent has continually attacked gay virginians, and you cannot grow a business by doing that, but clearly if we get through general assembly, go to referendum, come back as it relates to gay marriage, but i have big issues i am facing in front of me. he talks about his duty in office. well, i got to tell you, we had thousands of land owners in southwest virginia who had methane gas taken off their property. they were owed money by two out of state energy companies.

now, what was the attorney general's office's responsibility? they were secretly telling the two out of state companies how to get out of that deal and giving them advice how to beat the land owners. now, my opponent took $100,000 in contribution. while he was taking contributions, the folks who were owed money, thousands and thousands of virginia land owners were denied their money that was due them from methane gas that had been taken off their property. he is not doing his job as attorney general. >> thank you. ben has the next question for mr. cuccinelli. >> mr. cuccinelli, why do you think johnny williams, ceo of star scientific, gave you the state's law top law enforcement official $18,000 in gifts. you wrote a check to charity for that amount, but why were you willing to accept those gifts in the first place given your office said he was not a close friend of yours. >> well, i would say that, you know, i met ironically, met

mr. williams through the governor and at the time, you know, what was going on there isn't seem like a big deal. i didn't know about any business for virginia, except their tax case, they have none. and the only thing we did in their tax case was oppose them vehemently. they never got a break from us and they're still fighting it today and we're still through free counsel to the taxpayers defending that. and i did give the $18,000 to a charity because i thought it was the right thing to do. it took awhile to get that together for the cuccinelli family, it was a hard thing to do. i also called this summer for a special session for ethics reform and i'll remind some of you that don't remember in 2009 when i ran for attorney general, i put forward an ethics

platform, and i think it is a big step forward for virginia. we have a lot more to do in that area, but i would say this is an area i led on when i ran for attorney general, i have run on a platform this time, i would have liked to have gotten it done during the summer but the governor didn't agree with us. >> mr. mcauliffe, as you formulate your answer, you talked about this a lot tonight. can you explain why you haven't released more of your tax returns. you pushed mitt romney to do it. you said not releasing them, imagination goes wild. >> i have gone beyond what the last governors have done, governor cane, governor warner, i have gone above and beyond that. the issue of star scientific, they owed the state $1.7 million. this suit languished for two years, nearly two years. instead of the attorney generals going after that, bringing that money back to virginia taxpayers, he was being taken to

new york city, taken to a smith mountain lake resort. he spent time, staff stayed at his house in richmond. took $18,000 of gifts, bought stock in the company and it wasn't disclosed. that company had business before the attorney general. that was his legal responsibility. that's why i have called for ethics reform. i called for a bipartisan commission, number one, and number two, i have called for a $100 gift ban. any state elected official cannot take a gift of more than $100. i am going to propose that the day i am inaugurated as governor and i am not going to wait, issue executive order for myself, my family, employees, they cannot take anything over $100. i would say to the attorney general, join me in the $100 gift ban. clearly you can buy a lot of turkey for 100 bucks. >> mr. cuccinelli. >> well, first of all, the star materials, i reported them. it is important for virginians to know, i brought this forward.

i disclosed them. i called a press conference to do it. that's how committed to transparency i am for virginians because i understand there were problems there, but i am the one that brought it forward. turned it over to a democrat prosecutor and he cleared me. does anybody think terry mcauliffe would have ever done that if the roles were reversed? i released eight years of my tax returns to the media. he won't release any, even though the company is chairman of or was chairman of, that's not all together clear, is under security exchanges commission investigation and department of homeland security investigation. i think now more than ever we need transparency from people who seek to have the trust of the folks of virginia to assume the office of governor. and it is pretty rich to have the guy that rent the lincoln bedroom, rented seats on air force one, money laundering case be talking ethics. >> good news for you, we have a

little bit of time. i am going to do a lightning round with you. both of you, 30 seconds. deal with this question. would you open to virginia, mr. mcauliffe first, to virginia joining most other states in the country allowing school districts to start school before labor day. it is somehow not allowed in this state. >> no. >> you won't allow it. >> tourist business is too important. change would result in virginia, cost us about $369 million. tourism is a vital part. it is our second biggest industry, agriculture and forestry one in three. >> even though kids fall behind with ap tests. >> there's a lot of best practice we can do. i was in newport, a spectacular school go an hour longer, every other saturday. there are many things we can do. we can't with economic head winsds give up $369 million. >> squeeze it in here. mr. cuccinelli? >> i brought this bill on behalf of the democrat school board of

fairfax county when i was in the state senate. children outrank tourism. now, there are changes that we can make to take the pressure off the prelabor day start, like appropriate reforms to the standards of learning, because we focus on that day very much. there are things we can do to make this easier until we get before labor day, but ultimately row -- localities should have that choice. >> i have one weird sports question. redskins, should they change their name, mr. mcauliffe, offensive to native americans, should they change the name? >> i don't think the governor should tell private businesses what they should do about their business. >> even if it is offensive? >> i don't think the government should be telling -- >> do you have a personal opinion? >> as governor, not telling dan snyder or anybody else what to do. i want to congratulate the redskins, it is a spectacular --

>> mr. cuccinelli, time for the redskins to change the name? >> i think that's up to them entirely. i think 80 years of history with that team is hard to leave behind. i also don't think rg 3 should have been played in the second half. >> that concludes our question. mr. mcauliffe, you have a one minute closing statement. >> thank you once again to fairfax chamber for hosting us tonight. there is a real choice in this election about who will grow and who will diversify our economy. we must work in a bipartisan way if we want to create jobs. my opponent talks a lot about experience. but his experience has been in dividing people, by pursuing his own ideological agenda, introducing legislation that would outlaw most common forms of birth control, and bullying the board of health, which resulted in the shutting down of some women's health centers.

frankly, i think virginia women have had just about enough of ken cuccinelli's experience. the approach that i'll bring to richmond is different. building on bipartisan coalitions that we established and brought together in this campaign, i'll work with both parties to find mainstream solutions to the big problems that we face. it is the approach that worked for mark warner and the approach that we need desperately now in virginia. >> and mr. cuccinelli, you get the last word. >> the northern virginia technology council's tech pack and virginia's small independent businesses endorsed me this week or last week because they know i'm best prepared to fight to grow virginia's economy. my opponent is the only one in this race that's driven jobs from the state and has no plan to bring them back. terry sold more visas to chinese citizens as part of green tech than his failed company sold cars. his jobs history with green tech is terrible. i will be a governor that fights for you.

terry will fight for terry because he always has. if you'll give me your support november 5th, i'll fight for our education and economic policies that grow jobs for the middle class, and by leaving families and businesses with more of their own money so they can invest those hard earned dollars right here in virginia. my jobs plan will grow 58,000 good full-time jobs in virginia. i have faith in the people of virginia that if we remain true to the noblest ideas and principles, limited government and strong families, we will do better in the future. >> thank you both very much. voters, it is up to you. .

- previously on revolution... - listen to me very carefully. it's gonna turn off, and it will never turn back on. - what's gonna turn off? [electricity crackling] - excuse me. you're uncle miles? - monroe thinks your dad knew something. - what? - why the lights went maybe how to turn them back on. that would mean tanks and planes. he'd steamroll the entire continent. - this is what caused the blackout? - nanotechnology. each one is the size of a virus. they're everywhere. - they just started reproducing out of control. - we ended the world, aaron. - you know where this place is, this tower? - if i can get there, i can turn the power back on. look out for charlie. you need to take better care of her than you ever took of me. - we have to turn the lights on. - she turns the power on, maybe she saves the world. or maybe she sets it on fire.