it was hosted by franklin pierce university and the newseum in washington.ara mccormick, the vice president of education here at the newseum. it's my pleasure to welcome all of you here today. the newseum's mission to promote, explain, and defend the first amendment, positions of perfectly to lead today's discussion in civility and presidential election discourse wife with our friends from the marlin fitzwater center for communication at franklin pears university. i'd like to recognize mr. fitzwater and miss -- we're so glad to have you and also like to extend a special thank you too christian and john maynard, my colleague and today's moderator for all the work in helping put together today's program. without them this would not be happening. i'd also like to extend a special welcome and thanks to the teachers and students who are in our audience. you know first hand the unique challenges this polarizing presidential campaign is posing for teacherring and having civil discussions in classrooms and online so i really hope that you take advantage of this very

and thank you to the newseum and the federalist society for doing this. would say one overwhelming sense that is so powerfully felt in this election is that the bu -- has to do with her subject is simply the sense of frustration within the ways in which our institutions seem to us to be dysfunctional. it seems as though we are at each other's throats all the time over everything. every question becomes a federal case, often literally, and we somehow lost the ability to resolve differences in the ways that our media institutions have often enabled us to do it. i think a lot of people have a sense this is being done on purpose by people they disagree with. one example of that from one side is the sense that a lot of religious traditionalists in america have, that the obama administration picks a fight with them over religious liberty by creating by choice, not in the law, requirement in the affordable care act that raised this divisive issue of whether employers need to fund house insurance that includes contraception is an some abortifacients. the argument

the newseum grabbing a fifth bowl before taking off in what investigators believe the same man was involved in an armed robbery in wendy's intricate and armed robbery in lower. if you recognize him, call methuen police. lisa? >>> campaign 2016. mike pence making a handful of stops in hampshire, tonight holding a town hall in exeter. asked supporters to pray for the country and do everything in their power to help donald trump win. trump and hillary clinton are campaigning in battleground states, clinton in ohio, preparing for the possibility that trump may not concede if she wins. trump's new target isn't his opponent but first lady michelle obama. >>> donald trump came out swinging at a campaign stop in north carolina, this time taking his best shot at president obama and the first lady. >> they are losers, they are babies, we have a president, all he wants to do is campaign, his wife, all she wants to do is campaign. >> michelle obama has been hillary clinton's most effective weapon on the campaign trail and has taken trump to task for his comments about women, with trump behind in most n

we will take you live to the newseum in washington. they are gathering political journalists and academics to talk about political rhetoric and media coverage of the campaign. it's just getting underway live here on c-span. >> we are just 11 days away from election day. i look forward to a discussion with our panel. is to promote, defend, and explain free expression and the first amendment which guarantees our trout tradition of political discourse. includes respect and rationality. what is happening this campaign? by all accounts, it has been ugly. insults have been flung fast and furious in person and social media platforms. we have watched the debates and seen the stump speeches and heard the rhetoric on the campaign trail. donald trump and vice president joe biden challenge each other to a fistfight. discuss the state of civility in this presidential campaign and maybe walk away with ideas on how today's youth represented in this audience can revive the health of our democracy. we have a stellar panel this morning. hadas coles is a

thank you to the newseum and society for doing this. i would say one overwhelming sense that is so powerfully felt in this election year that has to do with our subject this morning is simply the sense of frustration. our institutions seem to us to be dysfunctional. seems that we're at each other's throats all the time over everything. every question becomes a federal case often literally and we've somehow lost the ability to resolve differences in the ways that our meet yadiating institu have often enabled us to do it. a lot of people have the sense this is being done on purpose by people they disagree with. one example of that from one side is the sense that a lot of religious traditionalists in america have that the obama administration picked a fight with them over religious liberty by create iing by choice, not i the law, a requirement in the affordable care act that raised this divisive issue of whether employers need to fund health insurance that includes contraceptions and some abortifations. the argue is not only about the subs

i'm jack marsh, longtime journalist and retired executive of the net, the freedom forum, .nd the newseum they will have a fair opportunity to make the best cases and state their position on a wide range of issues. the questions are mine and have not been shared in advance. as moderator, i challenge the candidates talk about themselves , their views, their values, their experiences, and not go negative against their opponents. in thell of you here holiday inn ballroom to be respectful of the candidates by avoiding applause and outbursts that could detract from the civility and a core of this debate. the candidates will each have one minute to respond to most of the questions. more time may be allotted as born to. dianne bentley who is seated down in front is the official timekeeper and she will hold up warning signs for the candidates as time runs down and then expires. the initial speaking order were determined by coin toss earlier this evening. halfway through the debate speaking order will be reversed and mr. williams will get the first question. we begin with two personal questions. g

. >> on behalf of the religious freedom center of the newseum institute, i want to welcome you to ourble abode. we also welcome our c-span viewers and those of you joining us via abc news.com. well, thank you all for being here. i think we can all agree is a timely and much needed discussion about one of the most challenging questions of our time. and that is, of course, how will we live with our deepest differences? >> we are very pleased. i would like to you please join me in acknowledging the president of the federalist society who is here with us today. modestly in the back. and a special thank you to the john templeton foundation for helping to make this possible. >> i haven't seen david but if he is here, i want to acknowledge him. let's acknowledge the john templeton foundation for their support. captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2008 captioning performed by vitac

i want to thank the federalist society, the religious freedom center at the newseum and john inazu for the thoughts from his book come and help you have enjoyed the panel. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, everyone. there are books in the back if you would like to have john have a signature in your book. i would please hope you join us in celebrating his great work. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> the federalist society forum on religious freedom will be available later today in our video library at c-span.org. this done the supreme court taking up related cases. and the three churches challenge to be denied state funding for playground resurfacing and losses from merchants refused to participate in same-sex marriages. president obama and italian prime minister holding a news conference right now after meeting at the white house this morning. live coverage on c-span. >> will you continue with the reform? one last thing this evening, will you bring some wine to the dinner with the president? this is an italian

thank you to the newseum and society for doing this. i would say one overwhelming sense that is so powerfully felt in this election year that has to do with our subject this morning is simply the sense of frustration. our institutions seem to us to be dysfunctional. seems that we're at each other's throats all the time over everything. every question becomes a federal case often literally and we've somehow lost the ability to resolve differences in the ways that our meet yadiating institu have often enabled us to do it. a lot of people have the sense this is being done on purpose by people they disagree with. one example of that from one side is the sense that a lot of religious traditionalists in america have that the obama administration picked a fight with them over religious liberty by create iing by choice, not i the law, a requirement in the affordable care act that raised this divisive issue of whether employers need to fund health insurance that includes contraceptions and some abortifations. the argue is not only about the subs

one trump supporter, grimly studied the front pages of dozens of newspapers in display outside the newseum, noting how each treated friday's revelation of a tape of donald trump having a vulgar conversation about pursuing women he found attractive. she grappled with what to tell her 10-year-old daughter -- sorry, it doesn't say she's a trump supporter, but she says she grappled as to what to tell her 10-year-old daughter, who was excited to watch the second between hillary clinton and donald trump sunday night. i'm outraged that i have to protect her from the news, even though she's completely interested in politics, she said. i'm sure there are 100,000 men out there that think the same way as him. i just really don't need to have it in my face the next four years. others are less upset by the news. it says not every woman agrees, but a home health aide from brooklyn says she was not offended by the comments and dismissed them as banter. she said she had been a registered democrat, but became an independent so she could vote for mr. trump. it was 10 years ago, she said of the tape. we all

. -- dr.ique: good morning monique: we are honored to be , just days newseum away from one of the mostntious political campaigns in american history. i would like to welcome you students and teachers in the audience and our viewers tuning in with a live stream. thank you for joining us. thank you for hosting such an esteemed panel today. we believe that franklin pierce university -- student life is the start of a full life. it is why we involve our students on the front lines of the democratic election process. today's topic -- civility in presidential election discourse would be relevant during any election cycle, and i believe we can all agree, no matter of political affiliations, that this topic has never been more timely than it has been today pit we are grateful to john maynard. with that, i give you the stage to begin today's discussion. thank you. john maynard: thank you. frome just 11 days away election day, so we look forward to a spirited discussion with our panel, which i will introduce in a moment. as barbara said, the focus is to promote, defend, and explain free expressio