Lindsey graham. I want to focus on the United States. Challenger Jamie Harrison. In. Graham ms. Harrison will fight as hard as i can. Tonight live discussion on , a the issues important to you. The pandemic, the economy, education from your local election headquarters. The South Carolina chamber of commerce and next our media nextstar media, the u. S. Senate race, South Carolina. A live candidate conversation. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. We are coming to you live from our studios in South Carolina. Im amy wood. Will bes conversation livestreamed and broadcast across the carolinas, as well as on our partner station, in columbia. Many of you tuned in this evening to watch the candidates for u. S. Senate in their second debate. Both campaigns agree to the four net of that debate. But this week, Campaign Staffer Jamie Harrison asked that the incumbent senator be tested for covid. The senator was tested last friday. In a Statement Released yesterday afternoon, the Harrison Campaign wrote, i cannot responsibly debate in person tomorrow night and allow politics to put my family, my campaign staff, and members of the media at unnecessary risk. The Graham Campaign responded, mr. Harrison is demanding special treatment. If mr. Harrison is not able to interact with south carolinians on the same terms they live their lives, he should not be there senator. Because of this impasse, we have changed the format of the form tonight. At the bottom of the hour, Lindsey Graham will face the same panel with equal time directly following mr. Harrisons interview. We have taken steps to provide a safe environment here tonight. This environment has been sanitized and the candidates and our panel are separated at a safe distance. Lets meet our panel. Anchor Carolyn Murray and anchor gordon dale. Gordon will ask her first question. Gordon amy, thank you. Mr. Harrison, i want to talk about the covid production data for cautions. Last week you brought your own plexiglas shield with the. If you are insisting the person that you are debating have a test, what is the purpose of a the plexiglas, is that a prop . No, its being safe. Right now, senator graham was in a room with two people who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Two senators who are now quarantined at home. We have to take this thing seriously. The president of the United States has been out of pocket because he has the coronavirus. When you take a look at this, senator graham said that folks want special treatment. Nobody is asking for special treatment. We are asking for a senior senator to take this seriously. He has gone to offense and he hasnt worn a mask. He sat on the white house lawn with 1000 people, mask less. What im saying is, as someone who has a preexisting condition, i dont know the conditions of all of you and your staff. We need our leaders to actually lead by example. Take a look at this. After the president announced that he has the coronavirus, weve had several debates across this country since then. Vice president pence took a coronavirus test. Senator cornyn just today took a coronavirus test. Suzanne collins took a coronavirus test. They are being responsible because they were in meetings in which folks have had the coronavirus. I dont understand why senator graham is asking for special treatment. Lets keep people safe. Its a fiveminute test. You go in, you get a swab, its less than 30 minutes and you get an answer. Gordon gordon but mr. Harrison, you are asking to represent millions of south carolinians. You dont know their condition either. 150,000 of them with confirmed cases of covid. Will you not meet with them . Ms. Harrison listen, this is the difference. Senator graham and i are vying to be leaders in the state. We are also asking people to wear masks. Senator graham doesnt do that. This is real stuff. 3500 south carolinians have lost their lives. 150,000 have been infected. One who lost their life was my aunt gladys who died alone in a nursing home. This is impacting families and away we have never seen in our lives. What we needed somebody to be serious about this. 750,000 south carolinians have lost their job. 400,000 of them lost their health care. All we are asking is for one of the top leaders in the state to lead by example. Dont hold rallies without a mask. Make sure that you are washing your hands. Where you are in a form with forum interacting with folks, after you have been in a room with two people who contracted the coronavirus, you get a test. Thats all we are asking. It doesnt take a lot to do that. I dont understand why his colleagues can do it, the Vice President can do it, he things he is special enough that he cant. Gordon thank you. Carolyn continuing with the same conversation, talking about covid19. Senator graham has presented us with a doctors note indicating that hes not necessarily needing to be tested. This is the same dr. Who would octor who would take care of you if you are elected. Do you believe that that doctors note is sufficient . Ms. Harrison well, im not sure. I do know that dr. Fauci said yesterday that the white house event that started this all was a super spreader event. We all have to take this stuff seriously. I dont believe that our senator has. Very early on, he was in those rooms. We all heard bob woodward talk about the president and what he said in terms of how they tried to talk down the coronavirus initially. Senator graham helped set up the interviews. He was in the room. I remember the interviews in which he tried to talk this down as well. He said, if 50,000 people die, thats a success. Then 75,000. Then 100,000. This is something that is impacting so many people. It breaks my heart to hear the stories of folks saying that they cant properly say goodbye to loved ones because they cant hold their hand. They cant be in the emergency room when their loved one is passing away. Its important that we take this stuff seriously. It is impacting us as a society in a way that we have never seen before. Sorry for your loss. I appreciate you sharing that with us. Another question about the National Mask mandate. The white house is now described as a hotspot. We know that dozens of People Associated with the Trump Campaign have tested positive for covid19. Many of those people were seen at large gatherings not wearing masks. The question for you is do you believe there should be a National Mask mandate. Ms. Harrison i do. Mitch mcconnell believes the same thing. He said that he wont go to the white house because they have different standards as it relates to the coronavirus. We have to take this seriously. When we look at other nations. New zealand is the perfect example. Nations who are almost coronavirus free at this point in time. They came up with a National Plan for how they were going to address this. Instead of saying, each state is different. We dont have walls on the borders of our states. People get on airplanes. My inlaws living in utah, i live in South Carolina. Its easy for us to fly there. If i took the coronavirus with me, im impacting the people in the plane. Im impacting the people in the location im going. Those people impact other folks. There are no walls on the borders of each of our United States. We have to come up with a comprehensive plan in order to address this. We failed to do that. Carolyn thank you. Gordon so, given how serious covid is, students all over the country have to show immunization records to return the class. If theres a covid19 vaccine, should they be required to have that to return to class . Ms. Harrison thats a possibility. We have to look at that. Its really important. Its part of the reason why we do contact tracing. Its part of the reason why we have to be thoughtful in the process to make sure that nobody is impacted and infected by something we are still learning so much about. Its in our best interest for us to take this as seriously as we possibly can so that we can get back to normal. If we continue to try to be lax with how we deal with this issue, we are going to lag behind all of these other nations that have taken positive steps forward to get the coronavirus behind them instead of in front of them. Gordon so, you would consider a National Mandate for schoolchildren to get the vaccine . Ms. Harrison just like we ask for kids to have flu shots, we would probably have to think about the same thing. Gordon what about the people who are concerned about the safety of the vaccine . Ms. Harrison at this point, we need the scientists and not politicians if you ask me if this is a good vaccine, i would tell you, dont ask me. Ask someone who understands this stuff. In terms of doctors and scientists. If dr. Fauci, who i believe folks on all sides of the aisle and in the middle, if he says this is a reliable vaccine, something that we have tested, something that has gone through the processes that we usually have for these types of things, and we feel that its good for the american people, i will take it. Im not going to take it if Lindsey Graham is telling me that. Again senator graham and i arent doctors. We need to rely upon them to give us the best advice. Gordon all right, thank you. Carolyn . Carolyn mr. Harrison, africanamericans represent 27 of South Carolinas population. Of the 3500 people who died in our state, 35 of those people were black. What will you do to ensure access to medical care and health care for all people in our state . Ms. Harrison yeah. You know what the coronavirus did . It exacerbated problems that were already here. I remember hearing about the coronavirus and cringing. I knew the impact that it would have here in South Carolina, particularly on the most vulnerable communities. We live in a state were almost 250,000 people dont have access to health care. We are one of 12 states that have refused to expand medicaid. 38 other states have expanded medicaid under the Affordable Care act. South carolina has failed to do so. Four of our hospitals in the state have closed. We are seeing that site in type of trend. That same type of trend in other states that refused to expand medicaid. If you live in one of those communities, it doesnt matter if you are black or white, and you have complications with diabetes or are impacted by the coronavirus or have come locations with a pregnancy, instead of taking you 15 minutes like it used to to get to the nearest hospital, and it takes you 25 or 45 minutes. Thats a death sentence. Those folks are not looking for a democratic solution or a republican solution. They just are looking for a solution. We have a responsibility to the people here in South Carolina. The leadership. Lindsey graham is emblematic of it. Hes been here 25 years and failed to do so. Ive gone to some of these communities. Theyve told me that Lindsey Graham has not shown up. We can do better, particularly on health. Two years ago, 14 of our 46 counties had no ob gyn. None. Zero. Zip. We are in the 21st century. 14 counties in South Carolina dont have any ob gyns . And we are serious about health care . We have a senator who comes up with a Health Care Plan that he thought of in a barbershop. Where he doesnt protect folks with preexisting conditions. He puts a senior tax on seniors. He blocked money. Lets be serious about health care. It doesnt have to be a partisan thing. Lets be focused on the health of every single south carolinian. Thats what im going to do. Im going to fight to expand medicaid. I will fight to strengthen the Affordable Care act so that every person can have health care, whether its given to them by their employer or because they go into some type of public option. Carolyn mr. Harrison, i would also like to talk to you about the stimulus relief package. This week, negotiations broke down to provide a second round of relief to families and businesses affected by covid19. Now that the first round has expired, people are losing their jobs. They are losing health care. They are losing businesses. How would you work beyond the aisle, across the aisle and foster bipartisan support to pass something to help not only the nations families, but families right here in your community of South Carolina . Ms. Harrison thank you for that question. It breaks my heart to talk to Small Business owners and folks who are on unemployment right now and desperately needed that federal unappointed benefit. Again, i said 750,000 south carolinians lost their job as a result of this coronavirus. Many of them lost their health care as well. Our senator said, over his dead body would he allow an extension of the unappointed benefit. As a result, because the benefit ran out in august, there is so many folks who are on the verge of being kicked out of their homes. They are on the verge of not being able to pay their bills. Our senator is so out of touch. He didnt understand why it was important to continue that benefit. That brought 20 million into the South Carolina economy every week. Every week. Not only did it benefit the families, it also benefited the Small Businesses that are on the verge of closing. South carolina, i dont know if folks know this, is ranked 50th in the nation as it relates to ppp dollars per worker. 49 other states are getting more money for their Small Businesses to stay open then South Carolina did. For me, at the end of the day, this is about what we can do to improve the state. Not about washington policies. I will work with anybody who is looking forward to trying to build progress. That means staying in session. Lindsey graham and the senate when out of session for vacation in august. We need to stay in session and get it done. I wish the senator would take the urgency he has for the Supreme Court nomination, to put that into doing a bill to address the needs of the folks in South Carolina. Carolyn thank you. Gordon . Gordon convenient, mr. Harrison, that you mentioned the Supreme Court. That is our next topic. I know you want to talk about the process of confirmation. Before you do that, is Amy Coney Barrett qualified to serve as a justice on the u. S. Up in court . She was qualified to be, in terms of the district court. So i would need to ask her some questions to find out where she stands on certain issues. Particularly in terms of the civil rights that have been gained in this country for so many groups. Hopefully, those questions will be asked of her and her confirmation hearings. We should not be talking about confirmation hearings right now. Lindsey graham said, it use my words against me. We should not be considering a justice in the fourth year, in an Election Year and that he would not vote for such a justice. I learned, many of us learned in South Carolina, a manager women are only as good as their work. What is the word of Lindsey Graham worth . Gordon what is your position . Do you have a rule you follow of when it is and is not appropriate to confirm amount nomination . Ms. Harrison my room is the precedent and standards of the United States senate. In 2016, the rule was that whenever a president nominates, it should be considered. Lindsey graham and others change that rule and set a new president. Now hes going against his word. In essence, this is a new precedent. I will follow it. If we will be a nation of laws and rules, we have to follow those rules. I said the other night, it feels like im playing monopoly with my sixyearold son. You change the rules to benefit you. Thats not the way this country needs to run. I will always follow the rules. People will always know. Even if they dont agree with me, they will know that i will tell them the truth. I will not waffle one way or the other. I will tell them the truth. Gordon , i want to talk about criminal justice. I want to read something you posted on twitter. Just as slavery was ended, we can end the epidemic of Police Brutality and root out the systemic racism that oppresses communities of color across South Carolina. Are you saying Police Brutality is as pervasive in the south as slavery once was . If you are suggesting a legislative solution, exactly what is it . Ms. Harrison let me tell you, i grew up in orangeburg. One of the very first stories that i heard, i started learning more about the Civil Rights Movement and what went on in my hometown, about the orangeburg massacre. Three College Students who were protesting a segregated bowling alley, a bunch of other kids on the campuses were protesting because they wanted to desegregate that bowling alley. They went marching. Three of those students lost their lives that night. None of them had guns or weapons. They were marching for equality. They were killed by members of Law Enforcement. Those members of Law Enforcement actually went to trial. Nobody went to jail. Nobody did. Imagine growing up in a community where that is the legacy. Imagine being an africanamerican man who has heard all his life of the Horror Stories about how folks have been brutalized and beaten and how the criminal Justice System hasnt been fair. Thats not just. Thats the reality of so many people in the state. This is that saying that all police are bad . No. My grandpa ron on my stepdads side had been in the police force over 30 years. Ive talked to him. We all feared about him leaving each day and coming back home at night. What we are seeing is, theres bad apples in the system that need to be rooted out. We need to bring accountability to the system so that every community, whether its a black community or White Community or latino community, can feel as though there police are there to protect them. Gordon what is your solution . Ms. Harrison part of the solution is coming up with a register. So that we know those bad Police Officers. Somebody who commits atrocities in chicago cant come down to Spartanburg County and get a job as the deputy seraph. Getting a National Standard of force so that we know whether you are in chicago or South Carolina, we know what the standards are in terms of how you use force and what type of force you can use. Lets demilitarized our police so we can rebuild the faith between our communities and the Police Officers. We understand the importance of policing. I dont believe in this trend of defunding the police. Police have such an Important Role in our communities. What i believe is bringing more accountability into that system in order to make sure that folks have trust that when they call on the Police Officers, they dont have to worry about whether they will have their lives. Thank you. Thank you. We are continuing our discussion about civil unrest. Social change in this country has come about when women and racial and ethnic minorities have marched and protesters. We have seen that a lot this past year. Describe legislation that you would push forward to ensure the rights of organizations are met. Have you met members of the black lives Matter Movement . What kind of legislation have they described they want . What have they expressed as their concern . Ms. Harrison yeah, i know folks in the black movement. I have not met officially with any of the organization. I know a number of the folks in the movement here in South Carolina. Carolyn why have you not met with them . Ms. Harrison they have and for me. [laughter] carolyn did you feel it was important to reach out to them because their presence has been so visible this year . Ms. Harrison well, many of the folks here in South Carolina that are involved, i know personally. We worked together on other things. What they are pushing for i dont believe in the funding the police. I do believe in strengthening the relationship between the police and the community. More communitybased policing. Making sure that we also bring in other professionals that can help alleviate some of the pressure and some of the tension. Bringing in psychologists. Ringing in drug addiction counselors and those types of folks to help address the situations in our communities. I think thats really important. Ive also talked with a few members in the police force. Things they believe can work as well. I believe i can be one of those people that will bring both are policing some forces and Community Organizations together. Sit at a table and come up with pollutions that work for South Carolina. Gordon if the Supreme Court were to strike down the Affordable Care act, what is the plan to replace it . If im in the United States senate, we are going to find a way to replace it. If the Supreme Court does strike the aca, in the midst of a pandemic that is only going to get worse between now we are in flues season. We are seeing spikes. Dr. Fauci said yesterday, he wants to 10,000 new cases a day. We are in the midst of a pandemic. Lindsey graham supports the court to strike this down. The question is, what are we going to do for those 23 Million People who do not have health care . We will have to find a way to make sure that that happens. Otherwise, we are going to create a greater pandemic and tragedy and crisis in this country. I believe in the aca. I believe using it as a public option. Strengthen it by including mental, vision, dental as well. We will be in a fix as a nation if that law is struck down by the Supreme Court. Lindsey graham supports that effort. Gordon thank you. We have one minute left. Carolyn . Carolyn thank you. Sorry that we are short on time. We would like you to answer the question about abortions. Describe what you believe are appropriate restrictions. Mr. Harrison me, im prochoice. At the end of the day, i believe the issue of abortion is a hard issue. A painful one to talk about. At the end of the day i think it between a woman, her doctor, god. Politicians dont have a role in that. We can have a role in making sure we address some of these issues that are impacting women and the health of their babies. The infant mortality rate in South Carolina is in the top 10. I stated earlier that 14 of our counties had no ob gyn. We have a senator who is proposing a health care thank you very much. We want to give you the promised one minute for a closing statement. Mr. Harrison well, thank you all for doing this again. I wish you and your families health. To all the viewers here today. Listen, in the end of the campaign, as ive been saying, ive lived the american dream. I grew up in a mobile home and im now running for United States senate. That only happens in america. Our state motto is my life. Its the motto of my life. What i want in this campaign, what i hope is that ive inspired you. Went graham is going to scare you. Hes going to scare you about crime and everything. We are tired of being scared in this country. Its time for us to come together as a people. I hope your my campaign, a came pan that is built in hope, that people will see that and say its time for a new day. Youlyn mr. Harrison, thank for joining us tonight. Keep it here. More to come. We will speak with senator Lindsey Graham when we come back after a short break. One of the country most Important Senate races. Incumbent Lindsey Graham and challenger Jamie Harrison. Mr. Harrison i will fight for you as hard as i would for my family. A live discussion on the issues important to you. The pandemic, the economy, education. From your local election headquarters. The South Carolina chamber of commerce and nextstar media, the u. S. Senate race, South Carolina, live candidate conversation. Amy once again, good evening and thank you for joining us. We are coming to you live from our studios in spartanburg, South Carolina. Im the evening anchor here. Tonights conversation will be livestreamed and broadcast on our next star Network Across the carolinas as well as our partner station in columbia. Many of you turned tuned in this evening to watch the candidates for u. S. Senate in their second debate. Both campaigns agreed to the format of that debate. This week, Jamie Harrison asked that Lindsey Graham take a covid test. The senator was tested last friday. In a statement, the Harrison Campaign wrote, i cannot responsibly debate him in person tomorrow night and allow politics to put my family, my campaign staff, senator grahams staff, and members of the media at unnecessary risk. The Graham Campaign responded, hes demanding special treatment. If hes not able to interact with south carolinians on the same terms, that they live their lives, he should not be there senator. Because of this impasse, we have changed the format for the form tonight. At the top of the hour, mr. Harrison joined us for half an hour of uninterrupted questions from our panel. Now, senator graham will face that same panel with equal time. We have taken steps to provide a safe environment tonight. The environment has been sanitized and the candidates and our panel are separated at a safe distance. Lets meet that panel. Anchor Carolyn Murray and anchor gordon dale. Gordon last the first question. Gordon amy, thank you. Good evening, senator. Thank you for being here. Starting on monday, you will chair a committee to confirm a new Supreme Court justice. You will be inside a hearing room for hours, several days of the week, with some of americas top elected leadership. Is it not appropriate for you to take a coronavirus test in advance of that hearing . Sen. Graham number one, im the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee thats about to confirm the most highly qualified woman ever nominated by the Republican Party. Im extreme he proud of it. We are sitting setting the hearing room up based on cdc guidelines. I just got a statement from the architect of the capitol saying that the room is set up in a compliant way. Heres whats important. How many of you will go to work tomorrow . How many of you will be around people tomorrow . If you are a waitress and you go to the restaurant to earn your living, are you going to require your employer that everybody be tested that comes into the restaurant . Are you going to require that all your coworkers be tested . That would break our economy. We will run the hearing in a medically compliant way. I will not live my life differently than you have to live yours. You cannot do it mr. Harrison has demanded. You cannot show up to work like that. I have a letter from my doctor say i am cdc compliant. This is about political accountability. I do a lot of interviews. I was looking forward to debating mr. Harrison. I voted for nominees presented by barack obama. I saw in them qualified women that i would not have chosen but i understood president obama have that right. When it came time for President Trump to nominate neil gorsuch, he called against that. The rules had changed. I voted against changing the rules. Here is the last thing about judges. I voted for sotomayor and kagan. Then i watched the destruction of brett kavanaugh. I stood up and stood by him. Now there is 50 million coming in to take me out. I stood up for him. Mr. Harrison cheered on the destruction of brett kavanaugh. I guarantee you there is no way he would ever vote for Amy Coney Barrett. That is important to voters in South Carolina. If you are looking for someone to reach across the aisle, i have done it. If we could play the recording. Lets ask about that formation assess. This is something you said a short time ago. Lets play that. Sen. Graham if an opening comes in the last year of President Trumps term and the primary process has started, we will wait until the next election. Gordon you said that, senator, in 2018. The question is, how do people know the things youre saying tonight will not change when it is politically convenient for you and your party . Sen. Graham i appreciate that question. January of 2019i was asked, ier the kavanaugh debacle said i would see what the market would bear. And if there was an opening on the screen court, what would be due . I would see what the market would bear. I will lead the charge to confirm judge Amy Coney Barrett to the court. Chuck schumer would do the same thing. We have had 19 nominations in an Election Year. 17 of the 19 were confirmed. When it came to democratic judges, i gave them a fair shake and i voted for them. My democratic colleagues want to destroy these judges. Bourque, alito, cavanaugh. I am hoping this hearing does not turn into the kavanaugh debacle. Im hoping Amy Coney Barrett gets treated with respect. We are moving forward. We are doing nothing unusual here in terms of how the senate operates. Gordon thank you. Carolyn . Carolyn thank you, gordon. We appreciate your time. The white house has been described as a coronavirus hotspot. Dozens of People Associated with the campaign have tested positive. Many of those people were seen at large gatherings and they were not wearing masks. My question is, do you believe in a national mast mandate . Sen. Graham i believe everyone should wear a mask, wash her hands, socially distance. This is a deadly disease. Carolyn and do you believe there should be a National Mask mandate . Sen. Graham i dont know how you enforce it. Who enforces it . Does the fbi follow us all around . I believe in responsibility. I dont know how a National Mandate would work. A vaccine is near. We will defeat this virus. If the democrats take over the senate, the house, and the white house. The most radical political agenda in history comes our way. Let me tell you a big difference in this race. If the Republican Party can hold the senate, i am line line to be the budget chairman. If the Democratic Party takes back the senate, the budget chairman will be Bernie Sanders. If the Republican Party can hold the senate, i am line line to be the budget chairman. If the Democratic Party takes back the senate, the budget chairman will be Bernie Sanders. I want you to understand what i just said. There is a big difference between me and Bernie Sanders when it comes to your money. Vote for me. Carolyn thank you, senator. We appreciate it. Gordon we do want to stay on the topic of covid, though. Your opponent said he would consider requiring students returning to last to get a vaccine. It that something you would support . Sen. Graham if we get a vaccine, i will be the first one to take it. My job is to be a senator for our state. We have a superintendent of education who i trust. We have a governor who i trust unlike. When it comes to covid, lets push to put this behind us. Should vaccine be required behind us. It has been deadly, tough on the economy. I want to know the stimulus package for help. Youon we planned it to ask about this, its up next. About the vaccine, should it be required for students returning to school . Sen. Graham i think that is up to the people of South Carolina. I am not running for governor, i am running for United States senate. She won the right to make education policy. I am running for the right to make Economic Policy at the national level. To avoid the biggest tax increase buyer democratic colleagues. They will change america as we know it today. They will expand the court to pack it with liberals as sure as im sitting here. What does that mean to us . Our voice is lost. Picked bys will be new york and california. Bernie sanders versus Lindsey Graham, i can go on and on. Liberal judges versus conservative judges. Gordon carolyn . Just as thattor, first round of support has expired, a lot of people are losing jobs and their health care. You talked about providing relief. How will you do that . How will you reach across the aisle to ensure bipartisan support for families who are struggling and desperate for relief right now . By voting for a package that makes a difference. I voted for phase 3. It passed the senate unanimously. I want the money to help the problem. The chamber is one of the sponsors of what would have been a debate, now a debate, nala conversation. My family ran a restaurant, liquor store, park, pool room, i grew up in the bark, in the back, what a great country, going from the back of a bar to being a senator. But i want to play by the rules. If you do what is required in business, i dont want you to be sued. My democratic colleagues dont agree. Im for hundreds of billions of dollars to help our schools safely allowing schools to go back. Im for pvp. I just got back from myrtle beach. The Tourism Industry is on its back. A tough summer, no one is traveling, the golf courses are not being run at all. Another round of loans for businesses who are struggling . Count me in. I talked to the president at lunch. I was on the phone with secretary mnuchin. Im excited that pelosi and mnuchin are talking again. Count me in for another stimulus package. We have to have Liability Protection so businesses are not sued out of existence. Carolyn thank you. Gordon our next topic is criminal justice. You said you did not believe there was systemic racism in our Law Enforcement. As a congress, what legislation to protect americans from Police Brutality . Amy number 1 sen. Graham number one, let me say this. Reform the police, yes. What happened to mr. Floyd was wrong. People should pay the price. But what is happening in america and all over the country, is a war on police itself. There are some bad cops out there. I have been a prosecutor, defense attorney, military judge. I have been endorsed by the fraternal order of police. I voted for criminal Justice Reform to make sure that africanamerican males and hispanic nails who have been sentenced to long times in jail can be resentenced. We produced a Police Reform bill that was bipartisan. Chuck schumer stopped it from coming to the floor. They want more money for diversity in hiring more minorities. They want the issue, they do not want to solve the problem. Jamie harrison, my opponent, supported the nancy pelosi form. He will pick pelosi over tim scott every time. He will go with schumer when it comes to judges. Thats whats on the ballot here, folks. Count me in for reforming the police. The nancy pelosi plan will cripple the police. Mr. Harrison had a chance to weigh in and be bipartisan. He chose pelosi over tim scott. I did not. Gordon carolyn . Carolyn our next subject is the issue of civil unrest in this country. Social change has come about when women and racial minorities have protested. Some of that has resulted in writing. Rioting. Certainly, no one supports lawlessness. In the past you have said that you support nobody supported black lives matter. Have you met with members of that organization, first of all . I have met with sen. Graham i have met with pastors in that community and let me tell you the facts. Racist an inherently state . No. Let me tell you why. To young people of color, this is a great state. One thing i can say without any doubt, you can be an africanamerican and go to the senate. You just have to add the values of our state. Tim scott is the only africanamerican senator in the country. Nikki haley is the daughter of indian immigrants. She became governor. In South Carolina, its not about the color of your skin, its about the ideas. The reason i will win this race is because of my conservative philosophy. It fits our state. I am in line with tim scott and nikki haley. Our opponent is going to lose, not because of race, but because he is so liberal. Count me in for reforming the police. Hes raising 50 million to flip this state into the democratic column and it wont work. Coming in for reforming the police. I voted for the first step act. President trump led the way. I worked with they can go back cory booker. A lot of people getting out of jail that resentenced to long terms in jail. 31 of our state is africanamerican. Im asking every africanamerican out there to look at my record. Supporting historic black colleges and universities and im glad President Trump made it a permanent fixture. I care about everybody. If you are a young africanamerican, a democrat, you can go anywhere in this state, you just need to be conservative, not liberal. Gordon senator graham carolyn senator graham, i would like to talk about that a little bit more. If you could explain yourself. You said you do not believe there is systemic racism. But you named two people who are elected officials, nikki haley and senator tim scott, do you think there is a problem that you are only able to name so few people of color when it comes to people who have had success in their careers . That perhaps there is a problem when you can only name so few. Sen. Graham heres the problem. I think naming nikki haley and tim scott, National Leaders in the Republican Party. I consider this a proud moment for South Carolina. Not just for the Republican Party. Tim scott has tried to reform the police. He has been called names he would not believe. You dont have to take my word for it. You can go as far as you want to go if you have values associated with our state. Heres the problem. Tim scott has been stopped on capitol hill by the police. I never have. I want to deal with that. I want more police from the community. I would to make sure we have transparency in policing. More body cameras. I want to recruit more people. I want to involve deescalation training. And with the police to be wellequipped to deal with deal with the problems we have. We have talked to Police Officers all over the state who feel like they are abandoned. I will not be part of that movement. With me, you will get reform. But i will not abandon the cops. Carolyn senator graham, thank you. We would like you to take a look at a video question. It regards the rights of lgbtq. Take a listen. I have a question for the candidates. My partner and i have been married for five years and been together for 22. What will the candidates do to ensure our rights are protected . The rights of gay people, married in the state of South Carolina . Sen. Graham good question. The law of the land by the Supreme Court is that samesex marriage is now legal. [coughing] i accept that ruling. We are a conservative state. There are a lot of religious people who believe in traditional marriages. They are not bigots or neanderthals for believing that. This man, under our law, has a right to his relationship. I will honor the law of the land. I have tried to be tolerant. Trying to understand that people have different Life Experiences than i do. I am not a woman or a person of color. I listen. When it comes to South Carolina, i can tell you right now, i think i have been an effective voice for here we are who we are. Samesex marriages legal and we will honor that. Carolyn thank you, senator. Gordon talking about the Affordable Care act, if the down,e Court Strikes it the aca, they have promised to repeal and replace. Where is the replace . Sen. Graham obamacare in South Carolina has been a disaster. You are promised if you could like your doctor, you could keep it. Premiums have gone up 30 . I was on obamacare and my coverage was almost nonexistent. Three states get 35 of obamacare dollars. California, new york, massachusetts. Nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, elizabeth moran. 22 of the population. What what i like to do . I would like to make sure that if you are in spartanburg, you get the same amount of money from the federal government as if you live in san francisco. That would be a billiondollar increase for us. Level out the playing field. Send the money to the state directly. Put our local officials in charge of health care. The reason liberals hate my idea is because i am trying to get money and power out of washington and back here at home. Their goal of singlepayer health care will reduce quality and increase cost. We dont want to some billions of dollars to new york and california and massachusetts. Gordon there are 150,000 south carolinians with a confirmed case of covid. That is a preexisting condition. They may lose their ability to buy Health Care Without the aca. Sen. Graham thats not absolutely. Look at Graham Cassidy. We send the money back to South Carolina. We get a billion dollars more under my bill that obamacare gives us. We get to manage the money here at home. Local politicians are in charge. Dont like what they are doing, vote them out. A bureaucrat in washington could care less about us. Preexisting conditions are required under the Graham Cassidy bill. My mom died when i was 21. My dad died when i was 22. We went broke because we were underinsured. When my parents died, my sister was 15. We got a Social Security provider benefit check from my sister. We moved in with an aunt and 25le who never made over hundred dollars. I get that we are all one car wreck away from getting health. We wont take preexisting conditions away from anybody. That makes no sense. Im trying to get the money in the power out of washington and back youre at home because our liberal friends are going to put all of our health care under the federal government umbrella and that is not the way to go, folks. Thank you. Carolyn . Carolyn senator graham, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. Do you support changes to federal marijuana laws including legalization, decriminalization, and medicinal use . We are trying to get a few more questions if you could make it brief. Sen. Graham i do not. Marijuana can be a very dangerous drug. Specifically for young people. I do support medical marijuana. I think there are medical purposes associated with marijuana. Despite the fact that 70 of americans say they have used marijuana. There are polls that show people believe marijuana could in should be used for recreational use. Sen. Graham i am in the 30 that says it is not a good idea. It is a gateway drug to other things. Medical marijuana makes sense. Legalization, i will not impose on the people of South Carolina. Gordon we only have a minute before we get to your closing, so quickly, there has been some criticism from the president about malin and absentee ballots, whether they will be safe or not. Do you encourage voters to vote by mail . Sen. Graham yes. If you want to vote by mail, do it. There will be a record of the transaction. Voting by mail where everyone gets a ballot whether you want one or not, its a disaster. There was a guy in minneapolis with 300 of them in his car. Voting by mail in South Carolina, there is a record here. I want a fair election. I want everyone to vote. This liberal dream of mailing out ballots and helping people get it without valid harvesting is a threat to our democracy. Gordon Carolyn Carolyn carolyn one final question this , was certainly a compelling time in our community. Nine members of a church were gunned down by a gunman who was able to purchase again because of the charleston loophole. I apologize, we are out of time. Gordon we did promise you one minute as a closing statement, go ahead. Sen. Graham in this election, mr. Harrison is the associate chairman of the Democratic National committee. He is a great spokesman for their cause. I am a conservative republican who reaches across the aisle. I am the judiciary committee. I will fight for conservative judges. Law order versus mob in chaos. Conservative judges versus liberal judges. Free enterprise versus Bernie Sanders being in charge of your budget. I love South Carolina, it is my home. It is the best place in the world to raise children and start a business. As long as i am your senator, i intend to keep it that way. Senatornk you so much, graham, for being with us tonight. A reminder, absentee voting is underway across South Carolina. Thank you for watching and have a good night. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National the competition is on. Years cspanhis video competition. Middle and high school students, be the start of a National Conversation by making a five or sixminute documentary exploring the issue that you want the president and congress to address in 2021. Include cspan video. There is 100,000 in total cash prizes, including a grand prize of 5,000. Is deadline to submit january 20, 2021. Will find tips and more information on how to get started at our website. s next, a debate in missouri governor race with republican governor mike parson facing Democratic State auditor nick cole galloway, libertarian rik combs and Green Party Candidate jerome bauer. The event was postponed after Governor Parson tested positive for covid19. The Missouri Press association tv cosponsored this forum
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