Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 North Carolina U.S. Senate Debate 20240712

Plan to help struggling families. How far the feds should go to keep our streets safe. And breaking right now, the fight over who gets to nominate a new Supreme Court justice. Live from your local election headquarters, this is the u. S. Senate debate North Carolina. Welcome to the u. S. Senate debate North Carolina. I am your host and moderator tonight. Here tonight, republican incumbent senator thom tillis and democratic challenger Cal Cunningham. Gentleman, welcome. Our debate is airing statewide across North Carolina, and we are live streaming. You can join the conversation from anywhere on social media using nc senate debate. Along with myself, our moderators are asking the questions. Bob buckley, political reporter at wghp, and angela taylor, anchor here at cbs 17. Now for the rules. Candidates have 30 seconds for opening and closing remarks, one minute forming questions, 30 seconds for rebuttal and 30 seconds for followup questions. We will be using this bell to indicate your time is up. We set time limits because you deserve to hear where candidates stand on as many issues as possible. We begin with you senator tillis. You will see two different candidates tonight. I got my degree when i was 36 years old and worked my way up. Opponent, Cal Cunningham, has been running for office since his college days. He lost the last time he ran for senate and now hell say anything to get elected. Not me. Results and not antipromises. Tonight, i will work hard for your vote and thank you for joining us. Value of public service. I have heard growing up in lexington and in church and in boy scouts. Senator tillis will tell you i am somebody i am not that is. That is because he tries to distract you from his failed record in washington. Time and again he is caved to the special interest and partisan interest in washington too weak to stand up for us in , North Carolina. Angela we want to start with the biggest story in the country right now the replacement for , the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. We both have taken positions on the timing of the nomination. Tonight, we want to dig deeper into this. Mr. Tillis, here is what you saidhis is what you tol saturday night. As a member of the Judiciary Committee i have seen the list of justices. He will nominate one of those justices and i will vote for their confirmation. In august, you wrote in the oped piece voters not only the president should decide the composition of the highest court in the land when they vote in november, the next president also determines the direction is of the Supreme Court. Is this a flipflop . President obama was a lameduck president on his way out the door. And now we are talking about consent. To pickt trump deserves the nominee. I vote for passage. Unlike Cal Cunninghams running mate with joe biden, he will not tell us who he wants to put forward. I think that is because he knows he hast to yield to the radical left so he will not issue a list and joe biden would support radical left activist judges , wrong for the country. Angela mr. Cunningham, in 2016, president obama nominated a Supreme Court justice in march of an election is election year. Do you think President Trump has the same right . Voting is underway we need to hear from the people of our state and the next senate and the next president should take up the consequential and we the of theweighty issue nomination for the highest court in the land. That is not what we have seen. Within hours of the passing of justice ginsburg, we should take a moment to respect 27 ears of serbs in the highest land of the court, but hours within her passing, he called not only an immediate vote, what would vote for whomever the president sends to the Judiciary Committee in the senate. There is an Important Role for the senator as a check and and he has been a blank check and senator tillis forfeited his right to independence and wrote a blank check on behalf of the people of our state and that is wrong. That is something i would never do. I know these judges well because i served in Judiciary Committee. The president took a bold step of saying this is what i stand for, the American People can decide based on the ones i said on the list. Joe biden is ducking the question and Cal Cunningham supports him. We know there will be lateral radical left judges who will vote against the second amendment, will vote for keeping our schools and businesses shut down. They will be literally, if Cal Cunningham has his way, there will be legislators in rows robes. Very comments we heard out of tillis are the heart of the problem in the courts and judiciary today. The efforts inject partisanship into our records, rather than be an independent check and balance and be about paul check on the executive. Senator tillis wants to rush into this partisan process, one that is sure to tear at the fabric of this country, right here in the midst of an election year. We should let the voyageurs voterss vices be heard. We should let the next president and senate make the choice. Angela will you encourage nomination of a north carolinian on the list . Allison would be a great candidate. There are a number of others on the list i would fully support or they have gone to the committee and i have confidence in them. We know what we are getting with President Trump and we know what we are getting with these nominees. Cal continues to duck the question on whether or not joe biden should for the nominee. Let us see who those justices are going to be. They are going to be from the far left radical activist ilk and it would be wrong for this country. Cunningham, should joe biden release his list of nominees . This is trying to partisanship into something that should be handled thats why the American People should weigh in , that is why elections have consequences. But is where the choice between us is important to the state of North Carolina. We have a constitutional duty of advice and consent. Rather than write a blank check, we should certainly consider the nominee that comes to the u. S. Senate in the next congress. L, that was a yesno question, and you did everything to avoid it. Joe biden doesnt want to put a list forward. If you accept what he says leave it open for three or four months. Why cant the American People know now what joe biden is thinking with respect to the future of the court . It is a court of it will not affect our second amendment, that will take us down a radical left path. Thats why he didnt answer your question. Cunninham the fact of the matter is we are about to have an election and joe biden is on on ballot, donald trump is the ballot, senator to this and i are on the ballot. We have an opportunity to make the case with regard to a lifetime appointment on the highest court of the land. We should do that thoughtfully. We should hear from the American People. Senator tillis supported that idea in 2016. He trusted and wanted to hear from the American People in 2016. He doesnt today. We are on the ballot. Lets let the voters decide. Republicans recently proposed a 650 billion relief package that provided funding for schools. Mr. Cunninham that bill was written not to solve North Carolinas problems, it was written to solve senator tilliss problems. The fact of the matter is it was designed as political cover. Because senator tillis said he would stay in washington until he got new covid relief but that then he packed up ship and came home without covid relief. That bill cuts in half the unemployment benefits. It does not provide a look at governments support they need to keep first responders, sanitation workers, Police Officers on the job. We hear from folks across North Carolina about the need for more support for education to connect our young people, to make sure teachers have personal protective equipment. Rather than work to get the job done, senator thune this caved into partisan pressures. He said lets ride rather than worker Cross Party Lines to build consensus and deliver the covid relief he promised. He has let us down. Moderator senator tillis, what is wrong with the democrats position that asks for relief in the states . Tillis keep in mind, last week he said he was talking to people that need help. That is a program that he criticized while the company he worked for was applying for a 1 million plus loan. He says he will provide funding for education. We added 5 billion beyond the democrats proposal specifically for education. He said we need an employment. We are on the brink of losing unemployment benefits. The bill had an extension through the end of the year. He seems to be for it, the bill that i voted for, but he said he voted against it last week. He thought Nancy Pelosis trillion dollar plan was good for a starting place. 11 million in Illegal Immigrants 11 million Illegal Immigrants Getting Health Care before we solve health care for all of our folks. We have got to help people here. Moderator mr. Cunningham, why 50 billionat 600 and 5 approved so we can help people here . This was a caving into partisan interest in order to get things done. You have to have democrats and republicans working together. The bill he referenced, which i critiques, which came over from the house, that was dead in arrival when it came to the senate. Of course the parties have to negotiate. Rather than get the bill done, senator tillis has caved into partisan interest, unwilling and unable to stand up to give relief. Moderator is there a degree of state support he would be willing to agree to, and would North Carolina have to be part of that agreement . What we have to do in washington is get progress. We should provide individual payments, more flexibility to states that we have supported that. But Cal Cunningham said the starting place was Nancy Pelosis bill a trillion dollar state a lot. North carolina tax dollars going to feel states. 11 million Illegal Immigrants Getting Health Care. Moderator so you would go for it . Sen. Tillis what we have to do is measure what the impact is on revenues and provide it to the states on a global basis. That is what we did with the first monday. We sent to the states but not a bailout for california and for new york, which happens to be the home states of Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi. Not 11 million Illegal Immigrants Getting Health Care for free and getting ahead of a line of people that we are still trying to Fix Health Care for. Moderator angela . It is not just unemployment that people are doing with. New data shows 11. 3 of our population does not have Health Insurance last year. Give me one specific proposal, just one, that you are willing to support to reduce the number of north carolinians without insurance. Seconds. Ellis, 60 sen. Tillis one proposal would be to vote on the covid relief package. To more people we get back work, the more people go back to their jobs. Unlike mr. Cunningham, whose proposal would give people off the health care that they like from their jobs. Getting the economy moving will be the fastest way to get people back on the health care ro lls. The problem i have with the Affordable Care act is april have policies they can use unless they are in catastrophic condition, because they cant pay the deductible, the copays, the outofpocket expense. Medicareforall would be medicare for none. Deal. S would get a bad it would bankrupt the country, increase our taxes and put us further away from a Sustainable Health care solution for the people of the United States. Lets pass the covid relief package, get people back to work and then get the economy back to work, which is the best which provide health care to the broadest base of americans. Mr. Cunningham, one specific proposal you are willing to support. Thisunningham senator to has once again mischaracterized my position. I dont support medicareforall. The covid relief measure we were talking about does not address health care. Here is what i believe and support, and this is what i hear from so many north carolinians, we must build on the Affordable Care act. I will fight to protect conditions. People with preexisting conditions, senator tillis has voted to take it away. I would advocate for expanding medicaid in the state. Senator to list when he was it,ker of the house blocked then he went to washington and voted to take that option 08 not just from our state but all 38 states that have expanded medicaid. I will work for lower Prescription Drug costs. With pack. From big pharma, senator to his voted against proposed bipartisan efforts to bring down costs on Prescription Drugs. I think we build on the effort will care act to provide affordable quality care for all americans. Sen. Tillis two months ago cal , cunningham was in the primary and they ran ads against him saying he didnt support the green new deal. He ran ads saying those attacks were false. So he was apparently for it, or at least he said he was for it when he was in a primary so he could get elected. Not he is against it. He will probably say the same thing about the green new deal. The fact of the matter is we have to provide viable Health Insurance options. What he is proposing is unsustainable, it would bankruptcy country and put us further away from providing Affordable Health care. Mr. Cunningham i stood up from the voices against my own party and opposed medicareforall. Even senator tilliss patriot Mitch Mcconnell ran ads here in North Carolina making it clear that i opposed medicare for all. We need a strong mix of private as well as public options. Senator tillis is standing here tonight attacking my position because he has none. He has voted to take Health Care Away from north carolinians. I will fight to expanded and deliver it to all north carolinians. Moderator now to the issue of Police Reform in america. Mr. Tillis, in a tweet you said cosponsorud to Solutions Focused on Police Reform accountability and , transparency. Mr. Cunningham, on august 24, you tweeted the use of force carried out by those whose job it is to keep communities safe is all too familiar to black americans. We must demand systemic change. You both acknowledge the need for Police Reform but what does this mean . Do we reduce officers on the streets . Do we move away control away from police . Mr. Cunningham, we will start with you. Mr. Cunningham first of all, i am proud to have worked with Law Enforcement as a prosecutor, is a military prosecutor and federal prosecutor. In fact, i have worked hand in glove with some of the finest that wear the uniform. I was also proud to serve as vice chair of Governor Coopers crime commission, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the sheriffs, police chief and other Law Enforcement officials. When this issue came up, i put out a plan to invest the resources, a new department of justice Grant Funding program to help Law Enforcement modernize, raise its standards, abolish policies or practices like true chokeholds, it is in order to get the Law Enforcement that we deserve in our communities. We need to pay Law Enforcement was deserved. It desert we need to pay Law Enforcement what it deserves. This is in stark contrast to senator tennis who is working aCross Party Lines. Moderator do we reduce officers on the street . 60 seconds. Sen. Tillis i find it remarkable that the troopers association, the policeman of association, the fraternal order of police have endorsed me. The reason is when they hear Cal Cunningham in response to aotesters in raleigh just month or so ago were chanting abolish the police, he tweeted out, i join you in your fight. In the state senate he cut Law Enforcement budget by 22 . He broke a pledge that he made only a few months earlier in the election. It is an example of him saying anything to get elected. Chuck schumer told him to take a position against the justice act. Tim scott, an applicant emergency letter from South Carolina understands we have a problem. He wanted to put something on the floor. Cal must of had that rubberstamping next to him, because he was providing a bill that would solve the problems to make sure police are under properly. Poll,tor in our next north carolines are divided on the issue. Where do you stand, mr. Cunningham . Mr. Cunningham first of all, i am proud to have worn the nations uniform of the better part of the last two decades, serving with our troops overseas in iraq and afghanistan. Our combat troops are trained to fight and win the nations wars. The American People are not the enemy. When they are in the streets raising and exercising their First Amendment freedoms, that is not where troops should be. When fuel was added to the flames of unrest, senator tillerson sat quietly, unwilling and unable to call out the voices that were putting those troops on the streets. Moderator so you say no . Mr. Cunninham that is correct. Moderator senator tillis. The tillis i believe when governor or mayor asks for help, the president should provide them with help. What i disagree with is sitting in silence when 33 Law Enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty over this year. When hundreds have been injured. Hes not taken the position over what has happened in portland, in seattle, in chicago. Our communities are less safe and these governors are filling their people. I hope they do ask for help and i do believe that the president would help them. But Cal Cunningham seems to be. N their side mr. Cunninham let me be clear, i take a backseat to know what when it comes to keeping our community safe. Having served in uniform here and overseas, having worked with Law Enforcement, having prosecuted criminals who assaulted Law Enforcement, having set shouldertoshoulder with Law Enforcement here in North Carolina to tackle some of our states biggest challenges. I support Law Enforcement. They need resources. We need to work with them to raise standards. What we dont need is a railroad senate,he United States a partisan effort rather than a bipartisan effort to bring reform. Sen. Tillis senator tim scott is an africanamerican from South Carolina who served in the senate. He has seen with the peaceful voices are saying we need to address and he put that in a bill that i was the proud cosponsor of. Cal cunningham wouldnt even allow the debate on the floor. When Chuck Schumer could have controlled whether or not we moved anywhere. Listening,t only not but it is not even allowing an open debate on the senate floor to get through. He called it a railroad job because Chuck Schumer, who has spent 80 million in this race so far, told him to. Moderator all right, we will move on. Bob . Moderator as of this moment our National Debt is almost 27 trillion which comes out to 80,000 for every american. We will give you a full 60 seconds in a bid. First, a simple yes or no from each of you, is this an issue that needs to be dealt with by the next congress . Senator tillis, yes or no . Sen. Tillis yes. There any taxonmoderator is increase you would support to get the debt under control . Sen. Tillis mr. Cunningham thinks a tax increase is how you get the debt back in order. Fastforward, ive become speaker of the house, and we cut taxes at the height of the recession. I would ask you in the years following that, which worked better. Increases which reduced revenue to the government. We retired debt by cutting taxes and getting our spending in order. Cal is proposing a medicare for all that would break the budget and make it impossible for that number to go down. He supports the package of 1 trillion to bailout states which adds one more trillion of the 27 trillion with the current package he supports. Moderator mr. Cunningham, is there any tax increase he would support . Mr. Cunningham once again, we have heard senator tillis avoiding the question and attacking me. Eastern on the stage very much like this six years ago and said 18 trillion was too much National Debt. We have now added another 8 trillion to the National Debt. Part of that is because senator thune is in 2017 backed a tax bill that paid out massive sums of money to the wealthiest people in america and the largest corporations. He told us that it would pay for itself. We know that is not true. 2 trillion tacked onto the nations credit card. Understand, that is 5,500 for every man, woman and child in the country. Thathave we gotten for 6,500 . We have gotten the vast pleasure of knowing that able commit has been paid out to those already doing well while so many north carolinians have been left behind. Moderator senator tillis, since you have joined the senate, it is true that the federal budgets have added 7 trillion to the National Debt, and it is projected that the second trump term would add another 5 trillion more. Is that enough to deal with the debt . Illion in sen. Tillis i believe growing the economy is the first thing we have to do versus putting people out of work by raising taxes. But it is interesting that cal says the wealthy people are getting the breaks. He knows a bit about being wealthy. When he was making almost 300,000 a year, he got a tax credit from the state of North Carolina, 40,000 to renovate his house, including a Butlers Pantry. I didnt know what a Butlers Pantry was, i had to look it up , and i am sure North Carolina dollars shouldnt be spent on that. Moderator that is not the subject were talking about here, though, are you still firm that you wouldnt raise taxes . Sen. Tillis we need to get the economy back on track. Now wants to replace tax cuts and was a tax increase. Moderator as you do, i also the to point out that president ial nominee of your party says no taxes for anyone below 400,000, essentially the top 1 , which leaves 80 of the income on the table on text. Can we get a handle on the debt if we dont tax that other income . Mr. Cunningham what i have been campaigning on his expanding that arent income tax credit for californians, putting more money on the pockets of those who work for a living, expanding the Child Tax Credit making it , refundable to parents to put more money in the pockets of parents. That is putting washington on the side of working people rather than what senator thunes did in voting to pay out the 2017, wealth of the nation to the top 1 and the biggest corporations of the world, leaving behind so many north carolinians working hard to put food on the table and raise their families. Those are the people i am going to washington to support, rather the party line and capitulate and get into the partisan interest. Moderator not to a viewer question. North carolina is home to 10 historically black colleges and universities. The question comes from senate president. As a member of congress with what specific initiatives in support of hbcus would you commit to support and how might Saint Augustines University partner bring more attention and funding . Moderator hbcus continues to struggle. What specific initiatives would you support directly to help let 10 hbcus are called North Carolina home . Easter cunningham 60 seconds. ,mr. Cunninham thank you. First of all, we should be proud that North Carolina is home to the secondlargest number of hbcus in the nation. They are an important part of who we are in an important part of the state we call home. I would intend to support our hbcus. I would have supported the future act that representative adams worked to get through congress. I have heard he spoken with her, she is a representative from charlotte. I would join the hbcu caucus when we get to washington. Invest to make sure we in or hbcus specifically in order to overcome many underinvestment. These are important parts of how we build a stronger economy, a better Education Future for the people of our state. I intend to be a champion and i intend to be an advocate for hbcus. Moderator senator tillis, you helped restore 255 million a year in hbcu funding, but i have spoken to president macphail and he says that is simply not enough. Sen. Tillis of that may be true, but he also knows that every year i meet with hbcus when they are in washington we met with them recently and they want is some certainty. More,rse we need to do but i bet you every leader of every hbcu is glad this congress was successful in getting longterm permanent funding. They can plan. Instead of coming back and asking year after year after year, it is the first time they have gotten this. Tim scott was leading that along with members of my conference. I supported it. I spoke with him about all the red tape. Hbcus are some of the smaller institutions, save a few here in the state. The regulatory burdens and we place on them are unfair and it hurts the smallest universities the most. If we want to reduce costs and make sure we have more money to help them reinvest in schools and india students, we should also listen to them jose they are being listen to them, who say they are being overregulated , and they need to be free to teach their students. Moderator the u. S. House is expected to vote in november on the back to federally legalize marijuana. The next poll that was released tonight, we asked should marijuana be legalized in North Carolina for medical purposes . Than 72 of likely voters responded, yes. When asked if marijuana should be legalized for Recreational Purposes . No. Said yes, 39 said our poll shows that both measures would pass if North Carolina voters got to decide. Should the government legalize marijuana . 60 seconds. Mr. Cunninham dating back to my time in the state house, i have supported exploring how we can get better use out for medical purposes. I dont support statewide legalization. I want to see these states that have gotten out ahead of it, how well they do with it. I have also supported additional funding for research of cannabis as an alternative to opioids for people on care, for cancer medication. So we shouldnt turn a blind eye toward something that may be better than opioids, which is a scourge on our country right now overdoses, abuse and but i fall far short of thinking it is time to legalize it in North Carolina. Moderator mr. Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham what i think we should do is take marijuana off the federal schedule as a schedule one substance under the controlled substances act. We should take it off because each state wants to go a different direction. If the folks in the west coast in colorado want to legalize whatever they would like to do, they can do that without federal intervention. Here in North Carolina, it would be up to the legislature. We should have the debate. Is go forward, it should be regulated in much the same way hard alcohol is. Revenues from taxes from the product should be put into care for people with Substance Abuse and Mental Health challenges. One of the great things when i talk to people about substance carolina,use in north when we talk about where we are as a state, there are over 150,000 north carolinians tonight who need access to quality care who with expanded if we expanded medicaid. Senator thune this o senator tillis opposed medicare expansion. Sen. Tillis in the same budget broke a promise that would have raised taxes by 1 billion, he cuts Law Enforcement spending by 22 , he cut the medicaid budget. He is reducing funding that affects doctors and therapists and ultimately harms those on medicaid relief. So i hear what cal is saying, but on the other side of it, but he did the opposite of that in the two years he served in the senate. Moderator marijuana is a big issue. Mr. Tillis, have you ever tried marijuana . Sen. Tillis yes. When i was a kid and growing up in a trailer park. Moderator mr. Cunningham, have you ever tried marijuana. Mr. Cunningham yes, when i was a young person. Moderator ok. Moderator we have to take a short break. When we come back the candidates will be asking each other the big questions. You can take part in tonights questions using the hash tag ncstatedebate. Life from your local election headquarters, this is the u. S. Senate debate in North Carolina. Moderator will come back. Some surprising answers in the last half hour. We begin this half hour with each candidate asking each other questions. Have 20unningham, you seconds to ask a question and senator tillis, you have 60 seconds to respond. Mr. Cunninham why is it that youre the top recipient of money last year, and what is it they are getting from you . While we are on the subject of funding, im curious about the 80 million you got from Chuck Schumer so far. I would expect in the cycle, you have raised twice as much as me from people all of the country campaign. Ng to your 80 million sounds like Chuck Schumer is investing in a rubberstamping when you get up to washington. Mr. Cunninham the fact of the matter is, senator tillis was the top recipient of pac money year. Ig pharma last what they have been getting from him is a to Bipartisan Legislation to being down the drugs. Prescription we saw in the last week how he filed an industryfriendly bill in december of last year, receiving money from them immediately before an injury after filing that bill. This is another example of senator thunes working for them senator tillis working for of themving into rather than working for us here in North Carolina. Sen. Tillis you received 80 million from Chuck Schumer. Chuck schumer was on stage last night with aoc saying they need to expand the Supreme Court. Though you support the expansion of the u. S. Supreme court . Mr. Cunningham i dont. Justice ginsburg herself said nine justices was the right number and that is the right number for our country, rather than continue to inject partisanship into our federal bench. Let me be clear, i am speaking to some of the voices in my own party now, we need to stop injecting partisanship into our courts. We have seen too much of that from senator thunes and senator mcconnell and the folks running the u. S. Senate right now. We need a strong, independent judiciary. We also need reform in washington, which is why i have called for overturning citizens united, and getting the big money out of politics but has come to dominate elliptical campaigns like the one were seeing that dominate political dominate political campaigns like the one we are seeing right now. Moderator you have 30 seconds. Sen. Tillis Cal Cunningham has received 80 million from Chuck Schumers pacs since the campaign started. He has received tens of millions into his own campaign account. We heard Cal Cunningham denied the pledge that it wasnt to, but it wasnt to expand the Supreme Court. I hope you never get the chance to break that promise because i want to get reelected to continue to create an objective body in the Supreme Court. Moderator angela. Moderator recently, the director of the cbc testify to the Senate Committee about wearing a mask. We have Clear Scientific evidence that they work and they are our best defense. I might even go so far as to say that this space mask is more guaranteed to protect me against when i take a covid vaccine. Moderator senator tillis, we begin with you on this next question, should there be a we have mask mandate insen. Ti mandates across the country. Andhas a match come mask we are matching tonight. The reality is that we would have a vaccine. Cal cottingham said that he would not take a vaccine and he would not and he did not have confidence in the fda, i think he used the word corruption. It is dangerous when you say to the American People and they 100,000 people who of already taken the vaccine that you would not take the vaccine. Even Governor Cooper said that ant was an end inappropriate statement. Ourcunningham undermined efforts to end this virus. End ts by wearings angela so you agree with a National Mask mandate in public . Sen. Tillis the state mandates are part of the problem, we have to understand that people wearing a mask is important. The sooner our schools get open and we get back to sporting events and back to life as normal. I do not support angela you have had a not about you have had an opportunity to answer. Mr. Cunningham, you support the National Mandate . Mr. Cunningham i do, in part because we have heard from science. The fact of the matter is that i trust the science, doctors, and Public Health officials, and when they sign off on the strength, effectiveness, and safety you will better bet that i will take it and my family will take it and i will encourage all north carolinians to take it because that is how we beat the virus. The fact of the matter is that we also need to distrust the way in which politics are being injected into science or trying to influence science. We saw how politicians have tried to undermine the cdc. We should have a person who asks tough questions, when we see the political people rewriting standards we should ask those questions, senator to listed not. When the fda commissioner got busted manipulating data, senator tillis set quietly. This summer we have seen bases,on on the military names for people who fought for the confederacy tracy confederacy. We asked voters do we support moving removing names from military institutions. 48 percent said no and 39 said yes. Renamed,ese bases be and what should that process look like . Mr. Cunningham i do think we should rename the installations and particularly fort bragg. There served their myself. I have served with the special forces command, special Warfare Center and school, i know for bragg well. Premier installation got named after a slave owning traitor to the United States who not only had bad personal qualities but was a failed general should be the on all of us. The is an Amazing Center of military universe and we often have an expression that if the president has to dial 911, the phone rings at fort bragg. The process we should go through is engage the community. There is an Army Regulation and it is a routine thing to name rename military installations. A request from fayetteville, North Carolina and ascended up to the army chief of staff and have it changed. Should those bases be renamed . Sen. Tillis i have a friend of mine in the Reception Room watching this. Whos a Wounded Warrior served in afghanistan and he served at fort bragg and he might have a different opinion. We should let voices way in and go through a methodical process. It started with some of these bases, and now we have the same people escalating it like they are doing everything, the abolish the Police People want to say the washington monument, the Jefferson Memorial should be renamed. It is another escalation that cal has been silent on. I think that there can be a process. I argued against a mandate to rename every monument without any public discourse. That is not the right way to go about it and it is not getting to a point where we are ready to erase history. So you would listen to the possibility . Sen. Tillis it should be up to the process of the communities and the people who served that they have a verse voice and what goes through here. Not people in washington mandating it. I assume from your comments that you are against elizabeth warrens amendment to the National Defense authorization act. Mr. Cunningham i do not know exactly what that is. Sen. Tillis rename everything over the next three years. Mr. Cunningham i think we need to rename fort bragg. It is about so much more than a name, it is about having a conversation about our history and how we got to the place we are and the institutional and systemic racial barriers that we still face, and again, not just about a name or monuments, it is about whether we are going to work for and prioritize achieving a more Perfect Union bob this nation should achieve. The number of undocumented immigrants is more than 12 million according to the department of homeland security. Can you name one program you would support to secure our borders and keep track of who is coming into our country . Sen. Tillis we have to have people, technology, and infrastructure. I have been down to the border several times, we have to stem the tide of illegal crossings. We have 11 million illegal he present now that Cal Cunningham wants to provide Free Health Care for our. You did, if you support nancy bill. s i support a path to citizenship for the daca population. I think we have to have a funding string for securing the border. We have to have more border quashing this crossings. I support entry and exit by the law, but we have people supporting joe biden who are telling him that our borders should be open, and, if you make a promise to provide Free Health Care you can be absolutely certain that more are going to come across as border and include drug traffickers. You can cunningham, answer that as well. All, itingham first of requires so much more than physical barriers, it requires technology, people, and a thoughtful approach. Having served in the military i have seen a number of incredibly important ways in which we can Work Together to secure the border, and we need to. It is much like being at your own home. We need to know who is coming and going. It is your own home. Before someone enters, whether that be a friend, stranger, they have to knock. Part of it involves fixing a broken immigration system. Senator to listed on a stage and said that he would stood on a stage and said he would. When the going got tough, he capitulated to paulison forces in his party, unable to speak up when recently the court said we could revisit and deport those daca children. He caved into partisan forces in his party. You said you support the path to put path to citizenship, would that encourage more illegal immigration . Sen. Tillis know, the lead writer of the succeed act, would give a path to citizenship to 1. 8 Million People who are docket eligible and daca eligible and pair that with security. We had a historic number of republicans to vote on that bill. You pair the two and that is how you fix the system and secure the border. Bob sheriffs and some of our largest counties are unwilling to hold noncitizens until i. C. E. Can take them. Nearly 90 of those detainees have criminal records. Should they be compelled to hand those over. Mr. Cunningham let me be clear. If someone commits a crime in a North Carolina community, no matter where they are from or what community they do it in, they should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. We are talking about immigration, and yet when there was a question of the floor of the u. S. Senate about whether the president would use Emergency Powers to fund a border wall, senator tillis said he would oppose that as a matter of principle but then caved into pressure and walked onto the floor and flipflopped. 30 seconds to respond. He. Tillis i think he said was against sanctuary cities and that is not true, because he has defended them. He marched with a sheriff that has a sanctuary policy. You are telling everybody that people charged with serious crimes should be held accountable, but you support a policy that lets them be released and not cooperate with federal officials that is completely counter to what i said. Mr. Cunningham let me be clear about this, because senator tillis, independent fact i positionoked at and his allegation and said that he was misleading. What i believe is that i know local Law Enforcement. Lawve worked with local enforcement and served on the crime commission, and i trust them to carry out the policies in their own communities, that is not what this is about. It is about whether or not we will keep our communities safe, and i take a backseat to no one when it comes to making sure that North Carolina communities are safe. Nearly one Million People in North Carolina have requested mailin ballots, five times the number from four years ago. There is what the president said. Pres. Trump we do not want anyone to do mailin ballots. If someone has to mail it in because they are sick or live in the white house, and they have to vote in florida and they will not be in florida, if there is a reason for it, that is ok. But, we do not want to take any chances with fraud in our elections. A very simple question, you have 60 seconds, do you have confidence in the vote by mail system. And inningham i do, think we should encourage North Carolina means to north carolinians to participate in vote by mail. I personally intends to vote on an early vote site. I am a little bit of a traditionalist. But, we should encourage North Carolina and to participate by mail. This question about participating in voting raises an important set of questions and when senator tillis was speaker of the house he passed as monster Voter Suppression legislation, and that when it was later struck down said that he had targeted africanamericans with almost surgical precision and then he went to washington and has failed to move to reauthorize the Voting Rights act. We need to make sure that people can freely and fairly participate, during a pandemic and by mail, but we need to have long early vote periods and make sure that districts get scrutinized and voting legislation gets scrutinized rather than cave into partisan pressures and tweak voting rules that keep people away. Bob before you get into any response, please let us know if you have confidence in the vote by mail system. Sen. Tillis i voted absentee many times. I had my absentee ballot witnessed this weekend. The North Carolina absentee Ballot System is a great way to vote and i would encourage everyone to do it and i would encourage cal to be a role model and put your people at polling wrote locations nba lesko traditional and be less traditional because these are untraditional times. Id,law i passed was voter 70 of people think it is touested it is reasonable be requested to show your id. I think people should vote by mail. Other states are doing it differently. In aw new yorks failure special election, congressional election. It took sweet it took weeks. We have several states that are mass mailing and not doing the absentee Ballot System, and Cal Cunningham and the democrats are ok with a different way of getting people to vote, and i think those states are at risk of having challenges to chat to tally the vote. This concludes our questions for the evening. Each candidate has 30 seconds for closing remarks. Mr. Cunningham, we begin with you. Mr. Cunningham tonight we have failed to hear senator tillis explain why he caves into the partisan pressures and the special interest pressures in washington. The fact of the matter that is weis that he is too weak. Send folks to interest not to cave, to stand up to the corruption. Be mycarolina will always northstar as your United States senator, just as i ran towards the fight after 9 11, i am asking north carolinians to put me in this fight now. Mr. Tillis, closing remarks. Sen. Tillis thank you all for viewing, i appreciate your time. I promise you that you would see two different candidates, when you grow up in a trailer park and work for minimum wage and spend until you are 36yearold getting your four year degree, you understand what it means to struggle, and every single day i served in the state legislature and every day i serve in the u. S. Senate, i think about the people who need help now. I will work hard for you and continue to work hard as long as i am in the u. S. Senate and i appreciate your vote. Thank you you to our candidates. We appreciate your time. [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] inwho will control congress january . Stay informed on all of the competitive congressional races with cspans campaign 2020 coverage. Watch the debate and election results, and watch online at cspan. Org, or listen on the free radio app. Cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. President trump traveled to Jacksonville Florida for a campaign rally, he talks about a variety of domestic and Foreign Policy issues and his first replacementof the for Ruth Bader Ginsburg