up for election this year in the u.s. senate, 12 of them currently held by democrats. senator jeanne shaheen is seeking a third term in new hampshire, running against republican corky messner. the cook political report has the race listed as solid democrat. >> the granite state debate. tonight, they -- and my >> thank you for joining us. tonight we are hearing from the candidates who want to represent you in the u.s. senate, and the set up is a little different than usual. our panelists are here in the studio. to follow covid-19 guidelines, publican challenger corky messner is in a separate studio come and because of several votes late today in the u.s. senate and restrictions around travel related to covid-19, number credit incumbent jeanne

shaheen's life in studio in washington, d.c.. before we start with the questions, get -- let's get a look at the candidates back on. from approving covid-19 relief to supreme court nominees, the senate plays a critical role in areing american lives, but new hampshire's interest represented by a spirit or a fresh voice in politics? >> we have to use more commonsense. the voters decide whether they want to keep you or throw you out. >> jeanne shaheen was the first woman to be elected a governor and the u.s. senator. corky messner is a first-time candidate with a career in the law. their personal routes and records in new hampshire have been a key issue in this race. >> we just moved here that he just moved here two years ago to run for the senate. >> she has been there far too long. >> have clashed on everything from health-care to finance reform, and the winner could play a key role in developing a post pandemic america. allare use nine evaluated

legally qualified candidates and selected those considered most newsworthy according to its objective criteria to participate. the candidates will get one minute to answer questions tonight, and 32nd rebuttals will be allowed at the moderator separate discretion. thank you for joining us from -- we want to start with an opening question about the pandemic. the president needed treatment at a hospital for covid-19. covid cases are up in many places, holidays are coming, and people are concerned about missing their families, they are concerned about being out of work. schools are also in flux. how are granite stators going to get through this constant crisis . mr. messner, we begin with you. step one is i think follow the guidance, follow the guidance from the scientists, follow the guidance from governor sununu, and then focus safe,ily, community, be

socially distance, wash our hands come and be a good member of the community. be a good member of your church and your family, and work together. we need to be compassionate now to each other. we need to care about each other. areeed to make sure that we taking care of everybody in our community. if someone needs some help, help them out. do it safely. we can learn how to navigate this economy safely, navigate our schools safely. we can learn how to live our lives safely. and the way we are going to do that is follow the science and be good neighbors, be good family mirrors, and be good students in school. areenator shaheen, how granite stators going to get through this constant crisis? >> there is no doubt that the coronavirus has changed everyone's lives, and so many

are struggling. we have got to see good behavior modeled at the top levels of .overnment we do need to follow the science. we need to follow mask wearing and social distancing and handwashing. but we need consistent guidance at the federal level, and we need a plan for more testing and contact tracing to fully invoke the defense production act so we are making what we need at home. unfortunately, my opponent, while he says follow the science, if you listen to what he says, he questioned mask wearing during the primary. insaid that hospitals were urgent need of funding. he has suggested to his supporters that they not follow governor sununu's stay-at-home order. we need to be consistent, we need to let people know we can get through this if we work together, and we follow the science, listen to the medical experts. >> let's get into the question.

we will start with john to stay so. >> good evening to both of you. for months now, congress has been debating a second round of stimulus and response to the covid crisis. recently the president said he was done negotiating and that they should wait until after the election, but he has shamed his mind -- but he has changed his mind. shaheen, -- the stalemate continues on the larger comprehensive packages. with republican leadership in the what has -- why haven't democrats and republicans still been unable to meet in the middle? shaheen co. we do -- sen. shaheen: small businesses need help. that's one reason why i supported moving forward with the second round of ppp this afternoon. but unfortunately, we have not seen mitch mcconnell and the

republicans in the senate be willing to come to the table, so the negotiating so far has been done with secretary mnuchin on behalf of the white house, and nancy pelosi. we need mitch mcconnell to come to the table. we need to work to get a new package done, just like we did with the cares act. i was proud of the bipartisan work of that package that passed 96-zero. we were able to get $1.25 billion per new hampshire, extended unemployment benefits, help for hospitals and frontline health care workers, help for programies, and the ppp doubled the amount of money that was first proposed. we need additional help, and it needs to be a big package that can provide help people need. >> was the president's inconsistency about this a mistake, and what specific program do you think needs to be funded right now and why? mr. messner: i think six weeks

ago the senate had an opportunity to pass a $500 billion package to help people with enhanced unemployment and more ppp loans. senator sheen followed the lead of chuck schumer and nancy pelosi, and voted no. that was six weeks ago. right now there could be more money for small businesses. right now there could be more money for enhanced employment. and the senate could be negotiating these other things now while people are receiving help. that is why we need new leadership in the senate. this idea of allowing people to suffer for six weeks because of inside the beltway negotiations and holding out, while people in new hampshire are suffering, and that is why we need new leadership in the u.s. senate. get it done. you can then have been negotiating these other items right now.

seconds tosheen, 30 respond. that senator shaheen, 30 seconds to respond. sen. shaheen: the fact is, the bill that mitch mcconnell put on the floor at the end of july doesn't provide the help that people need. we have a hospital in new hampshire that just went and crept this week. i was at -- that just went bankrupt to this week. we have got to help hospitals and schools and businesses and everyone who is hurting as a result of this pandemic, and mitch mcconnell has not been willing to come to the table, and my opponent is just another rubberstamp for mitch mcconnell. >> 15 seconds on the rubberstamp there. have got to you lead, senator mis shaheen. people could be receiving help right now. sen. shaheen: we propose and the

republicans said no. mr. messner: and people would be getting help today. are closing.ses >> to begin with mr. messner. as we continue to operate in a pandemic economy, new problems are rising for the granite state and workers in general. many rely on volume of business or tips to make a living -- waitresses, waiters, bartenders, people who work in salons, who may be back on the job but are earning far less. what can be done for them and those reentering the workforce who are now underemployed? mr. messner: i think it is the small businesses that are receiving the guidelines to open up their businesses profitably. i have visited so many businesses around new hampshire, and the innovation and the creativity that these small

business owners are implementing to make sure their customers feel safe is really impressive. because they know for their business to be successful, the customers must feel safe. i have been very impressed with what is going on out there in the small business community. having said that, there are some businesses that cannot operate safely under the current guidelines. that is where i think we need help with the ppp loans. that help should be there now. it is not there now, and it is not there now because of a lack of leadership by jeanne shaheen. she has been there too long. she follows chuck schumer, she follows nancy pelosi. she needs to lead and get this done. shaheen, same question. a response from you? sen. shaheen: unfortunately, my opponent has not been paying attention in washington, he would understand that the gridlock is there. which mcconnell has refused --

mitch mcconnell has refused to come to the table. i'm proud of the work i did on the ppp program. we helped 24,000 small businesses in hampshire and they have been able to keep 200,000 people employed. as you point out, there are a number of industries that still need help, particularly the hop a talent he -- particularly the hospitality industry. we need to provide some more work for that. we need to extend unemployment benefits for people in a way that allows them to make it through this difficult period. we need to help the travel and tourism industry in new hampshire. the ppp program has been great for places like the red arrow diner in manchester, but everybody needs more help to get through this pandemic. >> next question from john to stay so -- from john asa. >> at the top of your ticket, joe biden has said we will never get our economy back on track,

never get our kids safely back to school. we will never have our lives back into we deal with this virus. what do you think that the former vice president needs -- means by this? will they need to be another widespread economic shutdown, and are you willing to risk inflicting financial pain on some of the country in order to potentially save the lives of others? sen. shaheen: that is why we need a plan at the top levels of this government. the trump administration has not had a plan. that plan should include consistent guidance from the cdc for how businesses and schools and other sectors of the economy affected should operate. is why we need more testing and contact tracing, so we can isolate -- so we don't have to shut down the rest of government. , my opponentnate has been defending this administration's handling of the pandemic from the very

beginning. he even defended donald trump when he said we should ingest bleach to get through the coronavirus. the fact is, it is correct. we are not going to get through this pandemic, we are not going to get our lives back to normal until we get ahead of the pandemic. that is why we need a plan. we need to all be working together. it needs to allow us to do what we have to testing and contact tracing so we can isolate those hotspots, just like new hampshire is doing in so many areas. >> thank you. mr. messner, president trump, and you have praise for his leadership -- he tweeted after being hospitalized for covid-19, "don't be afraid of covid, don't let it dominate your life." governor chris sununu, who has also endorsed you, reacted to that. "i'm afraid of covid. i completely disagree with that sentiment that came out of the

white house. so who is right here, the president or the governor? and are you afraid of covid, yes or no? why or why not? mr. messner: before i answer the question, i would like my 30 seconds to respond to the attack that centered and machine -- that senator mission -- that senator shaheen made on me. senator shaheen, you are entitled to your opinion, but don't make up facts about me and what i have said because it is untrue. please stop it. shaheen: well, you said it. sen. shaheen: i did not -- mr. messner: i did not say it. read the transcript. this is not washington, d.c. i am an outsider. i speak the truth. this pandemic is serious. here is the tragedy with this pandemic. 2009-2010, we had h1n1 pandemic.

vice president joe biden's chief itstaff said last year that was a terribly mismanaged -- it was terribly mismanaged at the time. he said that the only reason there were not more deaths is pure luck that that virus was not deadly. guess what happened since then. the government did nothing. obama did nothing. senator shaheen did nothing to prepare for this. and we had another warning with the ebola situation. nothing was done by the obama administration. emptytional stockpile was for this pandemic, and we need to go back and hold those politicians accountable who us ind the ball and found this position. the institutions of government were not ready for this pandemic. you afraid of covid? mr. messner: i am afraid of

covid. i think we all should be afraid of covid. it is a virus, it is deadly, and we ought to be careful. but we should not be frozen in fear. we must balance and live our lives. >> next question. >> mr. messner, hospitals in new hampshire are likely to face record losses in 2020 and will need federal assistance for the immediate future. yesterday, lake region general hospital said they would need to file for bankruptcy. would you support direct aid to prevent the closure of new hampshire's rural hospitals act of how much would be needed? wouldssner: i absolutely support legislation to help our rural hospitals. about six or eight weeks ago, they were in pretty good shape. we need to make sure that these hospitals stay open, and that is .hy targeted help is important

we must target who needs help and provide the help to those who are in need come and not this blanket approach that the democrats want to take and spend trillions and trillions of dollars to bailout california. we in new hampshire should not be bailing out california for their mismanagement prior to covid. we should not be bailing out new york because of their mismanagement prior to covid. we need to target the help to hospitals and communities that need it. and not go on a spending spree just because we can rationalize it with the covid situation. senator shaheen, same question to you. doubthaheen: there is no that the hospitals need help. i visited st. joseph's, which sadly went bankrupt this week.

they not only need help as we are dealing with this pandemic, but they need help because they are also often the biggest employers in their community, and so many people have been furloughed. my opponent back in april said there was no urgent need for funding for hospitals. and now he wants to support a package that has been on the floor in the senate that would have no funding to help hospitals, no funding to help health care workers. a limited amount of money to help testing and contact tracing. that is not the help we need. we heard from jay powell, the head of the federal reserve's last week. he said we need a big package that helps all of those people who are hurting get through this pandemic. under the original cares act, it ended up being $3.2 trillion, and there was assistance in that package for hospitals. and hospitals received the help they needed back then.

now hospitals, some hospitals need more help, and that help ought to be provided. but the u.s. senate needs to be nimble enough in a situation like this to provide help when needed and not get into these political negotiations that cause people to suffer even more than they need to. >> next question from john distaso. >> now that we have seen the response to the pandemic, there has been criticism that the u.s. government was not prepared. what is the single most important initiative that senators need to discuss now to prevent the next one? to behaheen: we need looking at our public health system throughout this country. we need to look at the cdc. i had a very good conversation with dr. redfield at the cdc, where he talked about wanting to

really reform our public health system in this country when we get through this. but as my opponent has talked happenediticized what in the previous administration, the fact is the problem we have now is because of this administration. this is donald trump's america that we have been in, where we have seen 8 million people have contacted the coronavirus. we have seen 220,000 deaths nationally. in new hampshire, we had almost 400 70 people die. it is a tragedy for those people and their families. this president continues to take a blase approach, and my who is going to be with him without wearing a mask -- he was at the last super spreader event with him without wearing a mask. >> mr. messner, same question. mr. messner: a couple things. the institutions of government andnot learn from the h1

one -- the h1n1 pandemic in 2010. anyone in the senate at that time needs to be voted out of office because the institutions of government were not prepared. much to learn from this pandemic, and we need people in the u.s. senate who open-minded in getting things done so that we are prepared the next time this happens. you know, it doesn't help. if you send the same people back over and over again, who didn't learn from the last pandemic -- and she won't learn from this pandemic. i don't know what super spreader event she is talking about, and me not wearing a mask. but i certainly wasn't at the white house. again, senator shaheen, you are not entitled to your own facts. >> senator, 30 seconds to respond. sen. shaheen: it was the event

where president trump was in new hampshire. what we need is a consistent approach to this pandemic. we don't need with the trump administration has been doing, where he refuses to wear a mask, he brings people together at events, and my opponent fails to condemn what the president has done. this is the trump administration's plan. and what we have seen is 8 million people contract the disease and 220,000 deaths. that is not going to get us ahead of the coronavirus. >> and there were no contact tracers from the event in august. >> mr. messner, let's look into the future a little when we eventually get past this pandemic. what is the best way for the government to stimulate the economy and aid in its recovery from covid-19? name one or two proposals you would support. mr. messner: i would like to go

back first and point out that president trump made a courageous decision at the end of january to try to stop travel from china. dr. fauci has testified in front of congress that that decision saved many, many lives. there are estimates that 2 million lives were saved. what did the democrats do? condemn him, call him a racist, and nancy pelosi went to chinatown and said things are say. shaheen,h that senator in our last debate, she said she did not criticize the president over that decision, so i sure would like to see her say that that was a good decision that president trump made at the end of january because it saved a lot of lives, according to dr. fauci. would i do specifically? i have the messner usa plan on my website.

it lays out various proposals that we can make to bring this economy back. shaheen., senator same question. need isheen: what we additional funding for testing and contact tracing. we need additional guidance which we have not had at the federal level, and we need to ensure that we provide additional federal help so people can get through this period. the fact is, i was not critical of the president's travel ban to china. what i was critical of, as i said in the last debate, was the 40,000 people who came into the travel ban and spread the coronavirus. so it was not a very effective travel ban. what we need is an effective response to the coronavirus, and we have not seen it from this president, and my opponent continues to support this president's responsys to the coronavirus, as i said. -- response to the coronavirus come as i said.

even suggested, when the president said -- suggested drinking bleach -- he said that was aspirational. it is not aspirational, that is just dangerous. mr. messner: she is missed representing my words that she is misrepresenting my words yet again. are you suggesting that we should have kept out of the united states those 40,000 states that need to travel back here? is that what you're suggesting? sen. shaheen: i am suggested that they should have been quarantined. if you watch 60 minutes on saturday night -- mr. messner: you wanted to keep americans out of this country? tot kind of senator is that not bring people back? sen. shaheen: that was the problem. the problem was that people came in, and there was no guarantee that they were not infected.

one of the reasons that we saw the spread of the coronavirus was because there were not consistent measures put in place, which is what we need to get ahead of this pandemic. that is what happened with the travel ban, with the failure to ban people from coming in from europe. so we saw a spread. that is one of the reasons we have had 220,000 deaths in the united states. >> next question. >> we have already discussed the government response to covid-19. the cares act alone cost trillions of dollars. couple that with less revenue from the downturn and from unemployment, and the deficit, the hole gets bigger. president trump and congress passed a 1.5 billion dollars tax cut in 2017. these bills will come due, and it has led a discussion about repealing those tax cuts and raising others. if any taxes beyond that

are you willing to raise? please be specific to an income level or the type of corporations that they would affect. sen. shaheen: i didn't support the trump tax bill in 2017 it gave 83% of the benefits to the biggest corporations. i support the middle-class tax cuts. unfortunately that bill made those temporary. it made the 83% of the benefits to the biggest corporations permanent. i think we've got to look at closing loopholes in our tax laws. it doesn't make sense that in 2018,de $12 billion and yet they paid zero in taxes. we need to end subsidies to the oil and gas companies, because they are operating. they don't need those subsidies. we need to look at things like our fuel efficiency and our government vehicles. it is one of the pieces of supported. i have

i also supported tax write off to our pharmaceutical companies on advertising because i think they should not be able to get double the write off for advertising and raising their prices. >> mr. messner, same question, please. biden wants toe reveal the trump tax cuts. that means there will be a tax increase for the middle class. senator shaheen did not answer the question. she supports joe biden's position to repeal the trump tax taxesand therefore raise on the middle class. it is very, very important that we bring this economy back vibrantly, and we bring it back vibrantly by keeping taxes low and government out of the way, and empower americans to work hard, use their ingenuity, get

their businesses going, spark additional businesses, and grow this economy vibrantly. when we grow the economy vibrantly, our tax revenues will increase as the economy grows. senator, 30 seconds to respond. do you want to raise taxes? sen. shaheen: well, i give you a number of areas where i think we should look at how we could address our tax code in order to create revenue. middlert tax cuts for income americans and for small businesses. that is where i focus my attention from the time i was governor. we need to encourage small businesses at first to grow. that is why i worked with cory gardner of colorado to repeal the health insurance tax. it is why i worked to repeal the medical device tax, so that companies could do the innovation that they need to produce additional medical

devices that help people with health care. i think there are a number of areas that we can cut, and that is what i have done. >> we have hit the half-hour mark, and we will do elaine around to shape things up. what is the best place to stop and enjoy the view along the cape? mr. messner: the best place. i have been all over new hampshire, every corner of the state. there are so many views, wonderful views in new hampshire, that it is hard for me to say which is the best. so i love it here. i will continue going around the state and campaigning. >> thank you. 15 second answers. senator shaheen, what is your favorite place to stop and enjoy the view along the cape? sen. shaheen: right after you get on the cape, there is an old covered bridge that is no longer in operation. that is a beautiful spot over

the creek, and especially when the foliage is at peak. >> senator shaheen, who was when one of your political heroes? in history it's moral ricker who is one of the first women in new hampshire to run for governor and before women could get the right to vote, and she consistently fought to try and help women to get the right to vote. there will be a new memorial to her. and i think she's a great role model. politicale of your heroes. >> ronald reagan, his policy, his peace and strength policy, economic policy, and resulted in the end of the cold war and that was an incredibly significant event. >> will you be voting absentee

or in person? >> i will be voting in person. >> senator shaheen, in person or absentee? >> in person. >> senator shaheen, puerto rico's holding a referendum on statehood, would you vote in favor in the u.s. senate if they want to join the union, yes or no? >> i'm not going to speculate on that, the same question in conversation we had earlier and we have to wait and see what puerto rico does and we have to see what legislation is brought to congress. >> but if they want to join the union should they not be admitted? >> again, we need to see what the circumstances are around that, what requirements would be part of that, what contributions they might make, there's a number of things that we need to look at with respect that they would become another state. >> would you support puerto rican statehood? >> the democrat non-answers on these issues like joe biden refusing to answer whether the democrats will pack the court if

they take the presidency and the senate, the same kind of answer, the democrats want to pack the senate by bringing in puerto rico and the district of columbia, and they're not answering the question. >> let's wrap up the lightning round. another lighter question, where do you buy your new hampshire maple syrup? >> i buy it at the wolf borough food co-op. >> where is your favorite place to buy the new hampshire syrup? >> the merit hill farm. >> let's get back to the policy questions. >> let's move to the supreme court, the senate votes to approve the supreme court nominee will likely take place in the next few days senator shaheen in before the debate begins in the full senate you have said you will vote

against judge amy coney barrett, this'll make three consecutive supreme court nominees you voted against, all nominees of president trump and you voted in favor of two judges nominated by president obama, have you decided you'll never vote for another supreme court nominee put forth by a republican president? is this because of a litmus test that you have for that person in the same side as you over key issues? >> sadly, what we have watched under the trump administration is appointing and nominating ever more judges with ever more extreme views on the issues important to the american people . we need to go back to look at judges who have a more mainstream perspective because what the trump administration is doing is packing the court. what we have seen with amy coney barrett during her hearing, she doesn't support the affordable care act, which is so important

to so many americans, and the supreme court is going to be taking up the issue next week or the week after the election, we saw that she opposes women's reproductive rights, she even endorsed the ad from a group that would criminalize in vitro fertilization. i think that's a view that is too extreme for the american people. >> with the way the u.s. senate is working now, and the partisan divide, voters will likely assume that you would enter the senate and vote yes to a trump nominee and no to a biden nominee, why would they be wrong to think that you such a strong supporter of the president would break with the party? >> first of all i would like to say unlike amy coney barrett i have notes i've been taking, i said in the previous debate that i thought merrick garland should've got a hearing in the

senate and a vote in the senate, i would evaluate the judges on their temperament, their accomplishments and i would look at each judge objectively, the huge mistake for u.s. senators to try to predict what kind of decisions a supreme court justice would make in the future. i think these nominees should be evaluated on their abilities, amy coney barrett is an amazing choice. she is brilliant, accomplished, a great role model for women and young girls, and i think it's a mistake, if you listen to the hearing you should listen to what she talks about the important of precedents in the supreme court and don't she's going to overturn things. >> a quick follow-up, senator shaheen if roe v. wade is

overturned by the supreme court, the issue of abortion is returned to the states, how would you respond in the u.s. senate? >> i think we need to look at national legislation that would essentially put into law what is in the roe v. wade decision. unfortunately, my opponent is not willing to let women make their own choices on reproductive rights. he supports amy coney barrett's extreme position on this issue, and in fact he has an extreme position on reproductive rights, he would oppose abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and he would jail doctors who performed abortions. i think that is the mainstream of the values of people in new hampshire. unfortunately, my opponent is not from new hampshire. he does not know me. he does not know my record. he does not know the state in the way that we need to.

we need to represent the views of new hampshire and work with people who on both sides of the aisle to make a difference for the state. that's what i've done in my years in the senate. >> we will give you a few minutes to respond. senator shaheen had the opportunity to vote to codify roe v. wade and she voted no, the born alive act said if a baby survives an abortion, that baby is entitled to the same medical standard care of anybody. she voted no. she is for passive infanticide. >> that is extreme. >> that is wrong. my opponent is wrong. we have already outlawed infanticide. he is wrong on that. >> there was an opportunity,

there is an opportunity for you to vote in a way that was consistent with roe v. wade, united opportunity to vote in a way that is consistent with roe v. >> senator let let him finish. please finish your point. make your point please. the born alive act, senator shaheen voted no, the born alive act is designed to prevent passive infanticide. in roe v. wade passive infanticide is not permitted. >> senator shaheen 30 seconds to respond. >> the legislation he is talking about would have put into law what is already illegal and that is infanticide. it would've gone beyond that and jailed doctors who would perform abortions. again that's what my opponent supports. that is outside of the mainstream of new hampshire values. there's a difference between my opponent and me. he thinks government should make decisions about what women do. i think women in consultation with their doctors and families should make decisions about the

reproductive health. that's a very big difference between my opponent and me. >> we want to move on to some other questions a foreign-policy at saint anselm college. let's take a listen. with the covid-19 pandemic people are questioning the origin and we all know the virus originated in china and china has been telling the world that they successfully controlled the virus although recent reports suggest china is lying as the facts are not leading up would you consider covid-19 a national security at the right created by china and how would you improve our national security from chinese threats? >> first to you. >> i think so much of the chinese communist party does is a threat to our national security. we need to hold them accountable for the covid-19 crisis.

during the obama-shaheen years, they allowed our jobs to be exported to china, they allowed the chinese to steal our intellectual property. we need to recognize that the chinese communist party is intent on dominating the world economically and militarily. it's time we have people in the u.s. senate that will remember that and hold the chinese communist party accountable for the covid-19 crisis. >> we do need to hold china accountable for covid. they did not provide accurate information about what was going on, i don't think they're still providing accurate information about what is happening with covid, and what we need to do is put back in place a national security team that the trump administration disassembled that can look for those kinds of threats when they're happening

around the world. i think china is not just a threat with respect to covid but a long-term threat economically and militarily, that's why signed on to legislation that would address and support the diplomatic and economic aid to counter what china is doing. my opponent keeps talking about the threat from china, yet he advertises a law firm as representing companies in china and represented chinese government backed company against an american manufacturing firm. i don't think we should be doing that. that is not the policy towards china that we need. >> 30 seconds to respond. >> one, i think senator shaheen should be as critical as joe biden and hunter biden and their corruption out of china and two, i wish she would look at their own husband's law firms and advertisements directly to represent sexual predators and bragging about getting

pedophiles off the hook and wanting more sexual predators in the law firm to represent them and i might remind you, bill shaheen is a politician, on the democratic national committee. >> 30 seconds to respond. my husband -- my opponent might like to be running against my husband, but he's running against me and i'm happy to take responsibility for my record and what i have worked on in the senate, my opponent should take responsibility for what he has done with his law firm and representing china, he said he would not have done if he had been running for office, when it's wrong when you're running for office, then it's wrong before you run for office. this should be about what you have done, what my opponent has done, and what i have done. not what my husband has done. >> just last month the u.s. deployed radar, increase the

frequency of u.s. fighter patrol s and fighting vehicles to augment forces in eastern syria, that means more involvement in that country in addition to thousands of troops in iraq and afghanistan. the u.s. has had fighting forces in these the three countries in one way or another for about 20 years. at this point are you resigned have a permanent presence there? >> i disagreed with both president obama and president trump on their handling of syria . i think we should have not withdrawn the troops from northeast syria that president trump decided to do because now he has put troops back into syria, and we would've been better off and it would've cost less money for us to maintain the troops who were there providing stability in northeast syria and also providing balance

to what russia was doing and iran and what asad is doing in syria. i think what we need to do is work with the international community to go back at both iran and russia for the influence that they are doing in the middle east and what our policy is is really not clear at this point because the president has flip-flopped on what were going to be doing there. >> thank you. you've been critical of the number of troops in that region, but considering the difficult nature of the war on terror, would withdrawing be every tree and dangeroust to our national security? >> first of all, i think president trump ought to be commended for bringing peace to the middle east. i think secondly, senator shaheen has been in the senate

for 12 years during this war. when president trump repositioned those soldiers on the syrian border with turkey, she made a comment to andrea mitchell that we can keep them there at a minor cost. oftaking my comments out context. >> i take that personally and because i have two sons that are serving, one at west point when one that graduated at west point. and we need to take care of her fighting soldiers in the moms and dads out there, you don't want a u.s. senator who thinks losing a few u.s. soldiers is ok to keep people somewhere. >> 30 seconds to respond. >> that is absolutely wrong, i would never say that losing soldiers was ok and in fact when it became clear that russia was putting bounties on american troops in afghanistan, i spoke out and called on the president to say something to vladimir

putin. my opponent did nothing on that. he did not call out the president or say talk to vladimir putin, that is unacceptable, he is wrong, i would never say that losing our troops was acceptable and he knows it. >> 15 seconds to respond. >> senator shaheen, if you look at the tape and you see that you said we've only lost a few soldiers, would you withdraw from the race? >> what i said was the cost of keeping troops there in terms of dollars was about $200 million, was something that was worth the expense. >> you are lying. you are lying. you said we've only lost a few soldiers, thank goodness. if that's what the tape says,

will you withdraw? >> go ahead senator. >> my opponent is not accurate and that is the problem, he does not know me or my record, and he does not know new hampshire. >> is disengaging from syria disrespectful or dishonoring the memory of james foley? >> i don't think so, i think we need to move forward in a way that protects our allies in the middle east. israel is so important. they are our closest ally. we need to make sure they're secured. jordan is an ally and we need to make sure they're secured, it is time that we stop the endless wars. it is time that we focus on our friends who will help us, it is time that we bring the troops

home, we cannot go on like this forever and ever and it is tragic what happened to james foley. i might say that president trump defeated isis, and he's held terrorists accountable, and he killed soleimani and al-baghdadi and those were good things and to rid the world of those terrorists. senator shaheen, we know what happened to mr. foley, but how do you justify the continued presence of a foreign trip it doesn't want to start. >> i think in afghanistan we know why they're there, because we want to ensure the terrorists no longer have a foothold to attack the united states, that is the reason that we went into syria and iraq so we can make sure terrorists can't attack the united states and we need to continue to work on that, we have thousands of isis detainees around the world and we need to

ensure that those isis detainees go back to the countries that they came from because there is a hotbed there on the border between iraq and syria. i am proud that the work that i did with the foley foundation and the foley family to bring back to the united states the beatles who are accused of being responsible for the murder of james foley and three other americans. i worked with the national security advisor o'brien in our military to ensure that they could come back to stand trial in civilian court so we can hold them accountable into the rest of the terrorist in the world thathey should not mess with the united states. >> next question. you've said one of the first bills you would support in the senate is one that protects

people with pre-existing conditions from being denied health insurance. that the affordable care act is dismantled, what would that bill look like, would there be a cap on the amount and insurance company could charge somebody with a pre-existing condition, would there be a list of conditions? >> i would include several things in that bill, one is, nobody should be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, nobody. we have time here to deal with this. the supreme court is hearing oral arguments for the affordable care act on november 10. and the way that the supreme court operates, there will not be a decision on that case until next may or june. we have time to provide legislative fixes in case the supreme court overturns the aca. i happen to believe the supreme court will not overturn it. you've heard talk about severability during the amy coney barrett hearings, and i do not believe they will overturn

the law, but we need to have legislation in case they do protecting people, we need to allow insurance companies to sell insurance across the state line. senator shaheen when she was governor, the health insurance companies in new hampshire went from 26 to 3 because of the legislation that she passed which resulted in various high healthcare costs. >> in 2017 you were in favor of the medicare for all bill sponsored by bernie sanders, in 2019 you oppose the bill saying there are faster ways to reach universal coverage by building on the progress of the affordable care act. if aca is gone what would be your alternative, would that be medicare for all? >> no, i think there's faster ways to cover people than to put in a whole new system. i think private insurance has worked, but it's working because of the affordable care act that says to insurance companies, you cannot deny people coverage with pre-existing conditions.

if my opponent listened to the people with pre-existing condition and at our first debate he denied that we had hundreds of thousands of people in new hampshire with pre-existing conditions. if he listened to somebody like dan from swansea who had cancer and a heart condition who but before the affordable care act could not get health insurance or chelsea lewis whose daughter has tuberculosis. she would've reached her lifetime cap along time ago under health insurance before the affordable care act, that is the system that my opponent wants us to go back to. >> we want to get to one last question before we hit our closing statements, tell us about one specific person you talked with during your campaign that you truly touched. >> in fact, the other day i was

in portsmith and the woman drove from claremont to portsmouth to see me and she said to me simply i wanted to come meet you, i want you to know that i'm praying for you, and we have a prayer group in claremont and were praying for you, that was very touching to me. >> senator shaheen, name one person who has touched you during this campaign season. >> a woman in berlin who i don't want to give her name, but she handed me a note after town hall to say i and my staff had literally saved her life because she needed healthcare, she could not get it we helped put her in touch with that healthcare. what the affordable care act is so important to so many people in new hampshire, we cannot let that get overturned, that's what my opponent would support. >> we've been given both candidate one minute each. senator shaheen you go first. thank you wmur for hosting

us. what listeners have heard is two different visions of what a united states senator should support from new hampshire. i believe we need to make sure that all people get access to healthcare. that's what the affordable care act has allowed to happen. we also need to lower prescription drug costs. that's what i've been working on and will continue to work on. we need to make sure women have access to reproductive rights. we need to ensure that we invest in infrastructure and things like downtown where i worked with steve dupree and the mayor buble to ensure that they could get a build grant to rebuild the downtown because that's what our small businesses need to be successful. my opponent has a very different vision of all of those issues. i hope people look at my record and decide they can support me on november the third, i ask for

your vote. >> thank you. final statement. >> i grew up in a blue-collar family. we did not have much. i went to west point. i served. i'm a veteran. i started a successful business with hard work and luck i grew the business. it's time that we get someone in the u.s. senate who knows how to get things done who will serve only you and not be loyal to progressives in washington, d.c., i am running because jeanne shaheen has been there too long, her time is up, she's a career politician and does not care about you. she does what chuck schumer, nancy pelosi and aoc tells her to do. that's what she does. and it is time that she go away. that her career is done, she can retire in york, maine, and

get new blood in the u.s. senate . i will do the harder right instead the easier wrong, please vote for me, corky for senate.com, my phone number is (603)515-6542, give me a call. >> thank you to you both and thank you to all of you at home for watching the debate, if you missed any part of this you can catch it on our digital platforms. join us tomorrow evening for the candidates for the first congressional district. have a great night. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] a the senate continues debate on amy coney barrett. tonightvote is expected . you can watch live coverage on c-span2 or listen live on the c-span radio app.

there are eight days left until election day. president trump and vice president pence are hitting the campaign trail today. c-span will bring you live pence at 2:00ke p.m. eastern. this afternoon, president trump has two pennsylvania for a campaign -- heads to pennsylvania for a campaign rally. liven, your source for campaign 2020 coverage. the competition is on. be a part of this year's c-span video competition by making a five to six minute documentary by exploring the issues you want the president and congress to address in 2021. show opposing and supporting points of view. be a winner.

ofre is a grand prize $5,000. the deadline to submit videos is january 20, 2021. you will find competition rules on how to get started on our website, studentcam.org. >> national institutes of health director dr. collins gave an update on coronavirus cases across the country. dr. collins: welcome to the national press club, the leading organization for journalists. i am michael friedman, the 113th president and former general manager of cbs radio network. now journalist in residence at university of maryland and executive producer of the