Transcripts For CSPAN2 Campaign 2020 Arizona U.S. Senate Debate 20240712

Arizona. In the grand canyon state, former astronaut mark kelly is challenging republican incumbent senator Martha Mcsally. Good evening, welcome to the special election 2020 debate between u. S. Senate candidates republican senator Martha Mcsally and democratic challenger mark kelly. This is the only live debate between these two candidates. It is a joint effort brought to you by the Arizona Citizens Elections Commission and media organizations from across the state. Im ted simons, host and managing editor of arizona horizon and joining me tonight, political report we are the Arizona Republic and also the host of arizona 360 on kuat and the host of the show on kjzz radio. We are broadcasting to you live from the studios at arizona pbs and asus Walter Cronkite school of journalism in downtown phoenix. Tonights debate is also being live streamed on participating medias websites including ez central. Com, kjzz, azpbs. Org and azpm. Org. Topics were chosen by journalists from the four participating media outlets. Questions from the public as solicited by the citizens clean Elections Commission are also included. The ground rules for the debate are as follows, once we ask a question, both candidates will have 90 seconds to answer without interruption. The candidates will then get 45 seconds for a rebuttal again without interruption. We will then have up to two minutes for an open discussion on that topic. At the end of the debate, each candidate will have one minute for closing statements. You may have noticed the setup for this debate looks a little different. We have taken a number of precautions to keep everyone safe, due to concerns over covid19. Including increased distance and plexiglass barriers between the candidates and the moderators. Covid tests for everyone involved the debate and request for no physical contact like and shaking between the candidates like handshaking between the candidates. Martha mcsally republican appointed in the senate in 2019 after mccains death she represented arizona in Congressional District two for two terms native of rhode island and first woman to fly in combat in iraq. Mark kelly a democrat who earlier in his career served as navy aviator piloted the Space Shuttle for a number of missions and married to former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. We tossed a coin earlier to see who gets the first question and that honor goes to senator mcsally. Senator, the president s recent covid19 diagnosis calls into question the way the administration in general and the president in particular have handled the coronavirus pandemic. Hes been recorded as purposely down playing covid19 saying it would magically disappear it is a hoax and these sorts of things giving himself an a grade for handling the pandemic. Do you think the administration has handled covid19 . Well, our prayers are with President Trump and melania, all those infected with covid19 right now and the families of the loved ones who have passed away. This i think reminds us that the pandemic doesnt care if youre a democrat or a republican. We all need to be vigilant and do our part until we defeat this virus, which we will, and you know what ive been doing is fighting for arizonans to get relief out there to Small Businesses, workers hospitals, fast track the vaccines, treatments and cures and voted for additional target relief a few weeks ago to help Small Businesses and schools and others. Unfortunately my opponent said he wouldnt vote for that. Its been a really difficult year for everybody what we dont need is another lockdown. Thats what would happen if joe biden and mark kelly are in charge. And look, arizona, you have seen a lot of slick tv ads over the last month. And my opponent is claiming that hes not a politician or not even a democrat, but thats counterfeit. Look, the truth is that hes bought and paid for by Chuck Schumer whose path to power goes through arizona. And hes sold out to china in multiple business arrangements in his path to get rich quick. Led over the last decade one of the most radical Political Organizations in modern history raising over 57 Million Dollars in order to help elect some of the most extreme left wing politicians in power right now. This election is going to decide the Senate Majority and the direction of the country. And youve got a choice here, a fighter who has got results for arizona or a couldnt fit who you cant counterfeit who you cant afford. Mr. Kelly, we will have you responds. 45 seconds to respond to what the senator said and 90 seconds for your answer on how the administration has handled the pandemic. It didnt take long for the senator to attack my patriotism. She did that last election cycle with senator cinema. I thought after two years we would see a different senator mcsally, but the same senator mcsally has shown up. Hey im a combat veteran. I served in the United States navy for 25 years. I spent 15 years at nasa. I served in the western pacific aboard an Aircraft Carrier dealing with the chinese directly. You know, senator mcsally likes to make false and outlandish accusations. But weve got a serious crisis on our hands. Weve got a Public Health crisis which spurred an economic crisis, and both of these things have been made worse by a crisis of leadership. Over and over again we have been a step behind. We shut down the economy, and then the administration and senator mcsally didnt come up with a plan on what to do next. Okay, i do want to get back to now in more detail how you think the administration could have handled the pandemic better because we hear from republicans and the president and the white house that theyve done just a great job at this. Well, i think 200,000 dead americans is evidence that we did not do that washington, this administration and senator mcsally did not do a great job. We have 4 of the worlds population. We have 21 of the deaths from covid19. If you go back to february, the administration knew that this virus was deadly, and it was airborne. Senator mcsally said she was briefed on this, at some point, whether it was in last week in january, early february, senator mcsally told people to go on spring break. And then shortly after that, when it was recommended that large gatherings like fundraisers be cancelled, senator mcsally did a large fundraiser and when infection rates were on the rise, you know, senator mcsally goes to a big political rally. Thats not leadership. We need independent leadership focused on solving this hard problem. Its challenging, but if we listen to the Public Health officials and dont ignore the science, we can beat this. All right. Senator mcsally, response, please. Well, i appreciate that at the end of january, the president made Decisive Action in order to stop travel from china, something that was highly criticized. Make no mistake i mean mistakes were made at all levels, but were in this together as americans and we should be looking forward and debriefing along the way. We have learned a lot. This virus came from china. They silenced doctors, destroyed samples, blamed it on the u. S. Army and we need to hold china accountable. While im standing up to china to hold them accountable, my opponent starting in 2003, while he was serving in the u. S. Navy went over to china on an all expense paid junket by the communist party to help influence really, you know, elites in america and he went back in 2004, back in 2005, said it was the most meaningful thing in his life besides going to space. This is a part of what china does. They try to influence the elite, and it seems to work. We will talk more about that in the followon. Senator mcsally, at what point were you briefed on this virus . When was the first time you were briefed on it . What did you do with that information . Well, the task force was created, and weve had multiple briefings as everybody has throughout it. I will tell you, dr. Fauci and others, they were sharing information still we didnt know because china covered it up, it was a new virus, novel virus. Their advice at the time was the risk is low. On the same time frame, nancy was telling people to celebrate the Chinese New Year in chinatown and Bernie Sanders was having rallies. For the scientists service around mid march that we were realizing the impact when the stay at home orders started. President trump took action in january. That was highly criticized. Mark do you agree with the president s decision to ban travel from china . Yes, but senator, you would understand this, as a pilot, you guys did step one of the emergency procedure and then you didnt do anything else. And that is a colossal failure. When the president thanked china on behalf of the American People in january, senator mcsally stood up and did nothing. We have 4 of the worlds population. We have 21 of the deaths from covid19. And its because this administration didnt handle this as a Public Health issue. They dismissed the scientists. Senator mcsally doesnt i cant think of one occasion where senator mcsally has stood up when the president has made a mistake or the governor has done something that wasnt exactly right, thats not leadership. We need independent leadership focused on solving hard problems, not somebody who is just going to stand there, when the leader of her Political Party is clearly making some mistakes. Senator, when the president did call this a hoax, when he did say it would be magically gone by summer and these sorts of things, did you have did you publicly say anything in response to that . What i was doing at the time was fighting tirelessly to get relief to arizonans. We passed the cares act. We got the ppp loans out there that saved 85,000 Small Businesses in arizona. And 1 million jobs. This is another example of counterfeit kelly. He criticized the ppp loan, said it wasnt working, while his company was secretly getting the loan and taking advantage of it. And we passed that relief to stimulus checks and families who were struggling, families in my community and investing in the treatments and the testing and the cures, get that relief out the door to have people hang on. We voted on some additional target relief a few weeks ago, support the schools, to be able to get kids back to school safely, more support to Small Businesses, and unfortunately, my opponent says he would have blocked that relief. What was wrong with that bill, mark, that you wouldnt support this targeted relief to help arizonans . Its another example even the president commented that it was too stingy, and now were in a situation where Mitch Mcconnell sent everybody home, for separate vacation since we wound up in this situation without further relief. We have 420,000 arizonans who have lost their jobs, through no fault of their own, and now unemployed, and they are trying to get by on 240 of Unemployment Insurance a week. And senator mcsally went on vacation. Thats not leadership. We need independent leadership, putting arizona first, not more of the same from washington, d. C. Were going to get to arizonas economy in a minute. Lets move on to the Supreme Court. Mr. Kelly, President Trump recently nominated judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. Do you support the Senate Moving Forward on her nomination or any other nomination in the weeks before the election . I do not. Let me first say that when Justice Ginsburg passed, it was a tough day for our country, for me personally, especially for my wife gabby, she looked up to her as a hero. Were less than 30 days away from an election. This should be given some thoughtful consideration. I think the next president , regardless of who it is, whether its reelection of President Trump or Vice President biden, winning the presidency, and whoever is elected to the senate, this decision should wait till january. This is a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. And to rush it through, i think it is really important to recognize why is this being rushed through right now . The reason is, theres a Supreme Court case in november thats about the Affordable Care act. And senator mcsally has worked incredibly hard over the last five years to eliminate or undermine protections for preexisting conditions, through legislation. That didnt work. She paved the way for this lawsuit thats going to be heard on november 10th, i think. And that lawsuit would take away those protections for 2. 8 million arizonans, potentially. Now, 1 million would probably lose their insurance. The other 1. 8, it could start costing a lot more. Thats not the leadership we need in washington, d. C. Right now. And youve got to wonder why. You know, we will talk a little bit more about this later, but senator mcsally takes an enormous amount of corporate pac money into her campaign. When i announced on the first day of my campaign, i announced that im not going to take 1 of corporate pac money. Senator, 45 seconds for rebuttal. Did you vote to take away funding for preexisting conditions . Of course i didnt. I hope we will have more time to talk about this. I always protect people with preexisting conditions. Democrats and republicans agree about that. About the Supreme Court, the constitution is the guide. This is not about Amy Coney Barrett who an amazing role model, top of her field, the first woman with schoolaged children who will be on the Supreme Court. Lets be clear. The constitution says that the president gets to nominate and the senate gets to confirm, and all 19 times in history, when the party has been the same, they have moved forward with that. But what the left wants, what counterfeit kelly wants is to delay this so that they can get liberal activists judges on the bench. When they dont get their way at the ballot box, they want to take away your freedoms from activist judges who legislate from the bench. Were one vote away from its a case called helley from losing our individual heller from losing our individual rights to bear arms, our 2nd amendment rights. One vote away for the ability of those in nevada to go to church while they could still go to casinos during the lockdowns. Our freedoms are at stake. Joe biden wont even release his list of who he would nominate to the Supreme Court. I would like to know if mark would call on biden to release that list. I also like to know, you dont get to pick the timing, mark. Would you vote for judge Amy Coney Barrett . We are 30 days away from an election, inside of 30 days. I trust arizonans to be able to make a choice as to who their next president is and who they are going to elect to the United States senate. To rush through this nomination under these circumstances just doesnt make a lot of sense to me. We have 420,000 arizonans right now who are unemployed through no fault of their own and are trying to get by on 240 a week. Why isnt the United States senate dealing with that . Thats my question to senator mcsally. Instead this is a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. It should take some thoughtful consideration. And i think the voters deserve to have a say as to who is going to nominate the next Supreme Court justice, to replace ruth bader ginsburg. Mark, another example where you are not answering the question. Another example of trying to say basically nothing to get elected. But you know right well, the winner of this race could be seated right away, as early as november. So you dont get to decide the timing. You just get to decide what your vote is. Would you vote yes or no on judge barrett . I said i would vote no. Okay this should wait until january when we have a new president , and new senate, were within 30 days of the election. Senator mcsally wants to rush through a lifetime appointment. The reason is, it is this case about preexisting conditions and the Affordable Care act, which through legislation, even after voting four times to undermine or eliminate those protections for preexisting conditions, that didnt work. So now this is senator mcsallys option to be successful in the project shes been working on for five years. We have 2. 8 million arizonans who have a preexisting healthcare condition. Some of them could lose their Health Insurance because of this. Mr. Kelly, if you are in fact elected, because the seat replaces late john mccain, you could be sworn in as soon as the votes are certified. If you are in the senate, would you support a filibuster to delay the nomination . Well, this whole thing indicates how broken washington is. The discussion of the filibuster, an old senate rule, by the way, i think it is important for everybody to understand that when it came to passing a 1. 9 trillion dollars tax cut, for the wealthiest americans and Big Corporations that senator mcsally voted for in 2017, the senate was okay to go to 50 votes, so they abolished the filibuster for that. They also abolished the filibuster to try to eliminate the Affordable Care act and those protections for preexisting conditions. Senator mcsally was okay with that too. Hey, if this comes up as a discussion if im elected to the United States senate, i will give it thoughtful consideration, and im going to do whats in the best interest of arizona and our country, not whats in the best interest of one Political Party or the other. Mr. Kelly, you have been a candidate for more than a year. Many people think you should already have an answer to that question. Why would you not would you be able to hit the ground running on day one if youre still thinking about Something Like a filibuster . Absolutely. We dont know if this is going to come up for even a discussion. It might. If it does, i will give it thoughtful consideration, and i will do whats in the best interest of arizona and arizonans and the best interest of our country and not the Republican Party or the democrat party. I think it is important to note, very important to note that parties arent in power very long for very long traditionally. Right . It goes from one party to the other. Whatever decision is made on this, you will have to live with it from being on the other side. I understand that. I will give this thoughtful consideration, in a way that, you know, not what is in the best interest for democrats or whats in the best interest for republicans. Whats in the best interest of arizona . Senator mcsally i think voters want to hear why it is not hypocritical for republicans to go ahead with this during the last year of a term for President Trump when they blocked the nomination in the last year for president obama. The constitution is the guide. The precedent is in the ten times of history, all 29 times in history an opening happened during an Election Year, all 29 times the president nominated. When the parties were different, the ten times, then they didnt get advice and consent. When the parties are the same in those 19 times they all moved forward. This is about they want stall tactics in order to get their liberal activist judges on the bench. They want to pack the court. The fact that counterfeit kelly cant even answer the question would he vote for Chuck Schumer . Of course he will. Hes schumers star recruit, he put tens of millions of dollars in this race. He said this week were not going to waste this majority if we get it. They are going to abolish the filibuster. He wont answer to you honestly arizona. Hes saying one thing in arizona but he cant. Chuck schumer is trying to buy this election and you are going to stop that from happening. I have a question, mr. Kelly, who do you need to hear from to form an opinion on the filibuster question . I will need to hear an opinion from arizonans. When i make that decision, i will let arizonans know. This is something that may not even come up for discussion, and if it does, i will spend some time thinking about it. I will make a decision based on whats right for arizona. Senator mcsally had this i dont know how many people could even follow what she was talking about, you know, with these votes here, but whats simple about this is washington is broken. This highlights how broken it is, that were having these fights over old senate rules, what we need to be focused on are peoples healthcare, weve got a lot of individuals and families that have lost their healthcare due to this pandemic. The economy, these are the issues that arizonans care about, not a rule in the United States senate. Senator mcsally, lets move on back to the subject of china because china obviously Many National Security Officials current and former consider it to be our most important adversary at this point. Yeah. How would you go about the relationship with china and in some ways has the president made light of it to some extent by mentioning the chinese flu . How seriously has he done things . And do you credit the administration for Holding China in check in china is our biggest geopolitical threat. I have been involved in National Security my entire adult life. We have seen the rise of china. And look, they have been helped by unfortunately political elites like joe biden who have outsourced our jobs to china. They are stealing our technology. They are building islands where they didnt exist in the South China Sea and militarizing them. But ultimately americans are now awakened because they unleashed this virus on the world, and then we realize that were relying on our ppe from china. Were relying on pharmaceuticals and other things. Im standing up to china to hold them accountable to bring things back home so they are made in america again. Let me tell you a story. I started in 2003, while he was active duty, mr. Kelly went over on these Chinese Government funded trip, 2003, 2004, 2005, saying it was the most meaningful thing in his life other than going to space. Trying to bring elites into their orbit. So meaningful to him in 06 he had a chance to go to space for every little boy and girl whose dream is to go to space the astronauts who are supporting me, one of them was an apollo 16 astronaut you get to bring a few things to space with you, a few things he brought an American Flag this other astronaut and a flag of arizona or a flag of his state, but what mark kelly decided to bring to space was the banner the Chinese Communist banner from this forum, this junket that was paid for by china. Of all the things he could have brought to space, he later on retired and then recruited a Company Close to the Chinese Government to invest in a company that he co founded and later he was over there peddling a pyramid scheme of vitamins with a motorcycle with a chinese flag on it. Im standing up to china while my opponent is doing business with china and this is the ig biggest threat we have going forward. We need someone who will be strong on china not doing business with them. Respond to those accusations about your china relationship and broaden it out how you will deal with china. Senator made china an issue during this election cycle when mcconnell allies physically handed her a memo saying this is the issue in your election. You know, go for it. Hey, im a veteran. I served the United States navy for 25 years. I lived in japan. I spent time flying off of an Aircraft Carrier in the South China Sea. I have known china as an adversary my entire adult life, not because i got a memo from mcconnell. Senator mcsally is focused on this now because shes desperate to win an election. You know, i had the opportunity to start a business here in arizona, and im never going to apologize for creating goodpaying jobs and creating a business that is a lot of Economic Activity here in the state of arizona. But senator mcsally will use false attacks. She will question my patriotism over and over again. It is what she did in 2018, and i think folks recognize that. I mean, from this very podium, in 2018, senator mcsally yelled treason, so this is just the same falsenegative attacks. Let me talk about china for a second. China has been an adversary of ours. I recognized this in the 80s. Anywhere on the planet where we leave a vacuum, china is going to step into it. We need to hold them accountable. We need to use diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to do that. Senator mcsally said nothing, nothing when the president thanked china on behalf of the American People because of the response on covid19. Why is that . Well, i dont think she had her memo yet. So this is just a political issue. Senator mcsally is using falsenegative attacks trying to attack my patriotism again, and you know, i think arizonans are tired of it. Im not questioning your patriotism, mark. Im questioning your judgment. And the facts are there. You went on the junket, paid for by the Chinese Communist party, part of their propaganda arm in 2003 while active duty navy, 2004, 2005, you said it was the most meaningful thing you have done in your life. And then you chose of all the things you could have selected i think what i would have taken to space with me, you chose the Chinese Communist banner to take to space with you. And then you later have multiple business relationships and ventures with companies that are affiliated with the Chinese Government. Those facts are real. So people want a fighter who is going to stand up to china, then im your girl. I have already been doing that. They are actually threatening me personally. My mom is a little freaked out about that. Im your fighter for this threat. You want somebody who is in a business relationship . Im not questioning your patriotism. It is your judgment. Your business relationships put you in a place where youre weak on china. Mr. Kelly im not weak on china. Briefly respond to this 2006 communist flag thing. I dont know what shes talking about. I dont know where she gets her information. She may have found something on the internet. You know, i have recognized china as an adversary for my entire adult life. You know, senator mcsally talks about this when shes campaigning because she thinks, you know, this is the way for her to win an election. And thats not what arizona needs. We need independent leadership focused on solving hard problems. I mean, i had to deal with the chinese in when i was in space on my third Space Shuttle mission when i was a commander and they blow up a satellite in orbit, i mean i had a geopolitical major issue that was directly related to aggression by china as they were testing a missile. I mean, i have known this stuff for a long time, but senator mcsally just likes to lob false political attacks, you know, and question her opponents patriotism. We have seen it before. Lets switch now to healthcare. Mr. Kelly, you support the creation of a governmentrun Health Insurance option for the public. How much exactly would this system cost, and what is your preferred way of paying for it . So healthcare is incredibly personal for me. When my wife Gabby Gifford was shot in 2011, she suffered a serious traumatic brain injury. I will never forget being in the icu room for the very first time and seeing her and looking down and wondering what does this mean for us . What does this mean for her and our family . Fortunately she had good Health Insurance, and thats not true for every american, especially lately, with folks losing their jobs and healthcare costs too much, premiums, deductibles, copays, Prescription Medication, these are the issues arizonans care about and should be working on. Public option to compete with private insurance on the healthcare exchanges when they are only one option makes a lot of sense. Individuals would potentially pay for that insurance, thats a public option. I think we should also allow folks to buy into medicare at a certain age, say 50 to 65 years old, that makes a lot of sense, you could remove them from the risk pool. And then we have to address this issue of preexisting conditions. Senator mcsally has voted four times, and i often wonder to myself why is that . Well, senator mcsally takes a lot of corporate pac money from the Health Insurance industry and from big pharmaceutical companies, so theres not a lot of theres not a lot of desire to make changes in our Healthcare System that will help arizonans when you are doing something thats not helping those fgs corporations. Those corporations. Who ends up paying for the public option . Do we add to the National Debt . Is there some other mechanism . Well, so at some point, right, in this case when you provide a public option to compete with private insurance, the person buying the insurance through the public option would be paying for that insurance, and if were starting to talk about the National Debt, senator mcsally voted for a 1. 9 trillion dollars tax give away to Big Corporations and the wealthiest americans, when there was no point in doing that. And 80 of that went to the wealthiest americans and Big Corporations, put us in a position where now where we really have to make some really hard choices when a lot of folks need covid relief ive been standing up for the powerful and protecting the vulnerable my entire life. Its what my life story is about. Democrats and republicans can agree on a couple things related to healthcare, first is we will always protect preexisting conditions. Theres nobody who disagrees with that. The second is that obama care is failing. It is not working. What im doing is fight for more options for people. We took away the penalties because the way obama care worked, that if you couldnt afford their unaffordable Health Insurance, the government was fining you. So im fighting for more options for Small Businesses to band together, for people to have choices, but this public option which is Bernie Sanders light, really, its the next path to the full government takeover of healthcare. This is going to have you cant have a public option compete with private Health Insurance. Everybody who gets Health Insurance from their employer is eventually going to lose it. The full government will take over. And medicare as we know it will be collapsed. Any seniors tuning in, under this expensive plan, that is the first step to the government takeover of healthcare. What i want to know is how much is the public option going to cost . Senator mcsally, i have a question for you on healthcare. You have been supportive of republican plans that nonpartisan analysts say would have left 23 americans including many in arizona without health coverage. The senate plan that you are cosponsoring would guarantee coverage of preexisting conditions, but those nonpartisan analysts say it would allow women to be charged more than men. Why then should arizonans want either of those plans should the aca or if the aca already covers them . Well, i agree women shouldnt be charged more than men. Kids should be able to stay on their parents insurance till they are 26. And we should never be allowing Insurance Companies to deny People Insurance for preexisting conditions or raise their cost. But whats happening with obama care is the costs keep going up. You know, i met a family when i was walking knocking doors in the west valley. They had four kids. Hes a plumber owns his own business. Before obama care paid 300 a month for his insurance. Gone up four times since then. It is more than his mortgage now. We had over before we get rid of the penalty, we had over 150,000 arizonans under obama care who paid a fine because they couldnt afford the Health Insurance. And over 80 of them were making less than 50,000 a year. So im passionate to provide more choices. But there government takeover of healthcare is dangerous. And make no mistake, the public option means the government is competing with private Health Insurance. They are never going to be able to compete. Private Health Insurance goes away. Then you have the full government takeover. I will tell you, medicare right now they say will be insolvent in 2025, their scheme that allows people to be more people to be put on medicare will have it collapse. Rural hospitals will close. Your taxes will go up. Over 2300 just in the public option. Private practices will close. And 178 million americans who get on the job Health Insurance will lose it. This is whats dangerous about their plan. Im fighting for more options for people. Buy insurance across state lines. Allow Small Businesses to band together so they have more choice. Lets provide that taxpayer resources to backstop those with the highest expenses, and lets find more options that protect people with preexisting conditions, not the government healthcare like counterfeit kelly is offering. All right. Do you want to follow up . Please. Do you want to rebut . This isnt rocket science. Follow the money. The senator took a ton of money from Health Insurance companies and voted to eliminate protections for preexisting conditions. She took a ton of money from pharmaceutical companies and voted to increase the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. She took millions of dollars from corporate pacs and gave companies billions of dollars of tax giveaways. Bottom line, senator mcsally isnt working for us. Shes working for somebody else. Shes working for that company that funds that corporate pac, that funds her campaign. Thats not putting arizona first. Ive got to be able to respond to that. Please. This is another example of saying one thing and just the counterfeit nature of this whole campaign and what hes saying to arizonans. Between the beginning of 2018 and the end of 2019 18 months, 1. 8 Million Dollars in speaking fees, speaking to Financial Companies and Insurance Companies. Im talking about into his bank account. Okay . And he uses all the endruns in order to be able to get corporate money from employers and executives. Dont be fooled. Hes saying one thing that may sound good, but in reality, hes getting rich and has gotten rich off corporations and they are funding his campaign. We cannot put up with more counterfeit discussions on this. This is saying one thing and then the attacks towards me, im always going to protect people with preexisting conditions. Talking about integrity, Integrity First is the core value in the air force and my life. I have been standing up to the powerful and protecting the vulnerable my whole life. I will keep doing it as your fighter in the senate. On this issue of preexisting conditions, people in arizona are very concerned about this. Healthcare consistently is a top issue in this race. Why should arizonans trust you on this issue . Because im telling you im committed to protecting people with preexisting conditions, and i have repeatedly voted to include last week to protect people with preexisting conditions. But theres people in arizona with preexisting conditions right now who are being failed by obama care. What about them . Im rolling up my sleeves. Some politicians sit back and dont want to solve hard problems. Im rolling up my sleeves to fight for them, the entrepreneur who is going uncovered right now who i met in tucson. The hispanic Franchise Owner had to give up his businesses because and work for a big business because he got diagnosed with diabetes, so weve got to fix this, and weve got to protect people with preexisting conditions. These are scare tactics. Im also going to continue to fight to stop the government takeover of healthcare. These guys agree obama care is failing. I wish the media would at least acknowledge that, but what they want is going to be dangerous to medicare and those who get on the job Health Insurance. Mr. Kelly, do you agree that senator mcsally always protects those with preexisting conditions . Well, of course not. And arizonans already know they cant trust senator mcsally when it comes to healthcare. Shes voted on four separate occasions to undermine or eliminate those protections. I was with a mom stacy recently, her daughter is named zoe. She had a terrible heart condition that she was born with and had to have multiple surgeries. She reached a lifetime cap when she was not even into her teens on what her healthcare has cost. They were always concerned that because of her preexisting condition as an adult she wouldnt be able to get healthcare coverage. But then the Affordable Care act came around and it changed their lives. Senator mcsally is trying to take away those protections from 2. 8 million arizonans. Shes done it on four separate occasions. She paved the way for a lawsuit thats at the Supreme Court. The case will be heard on november 10th. Thats not independent leadership. Beneed independent leadership we need independent leadership thats going to put arizona first, thats not going to put a big corporate pac or a Healthcare Company or a Big Pharmaceutical Company first. All right. These scare tactics, it is because i said i was against obama care. I hear too many stories where obama care is failing people and they have preexisting conditions and they cant get access to affordable healthcare insurance. Im fighting to start the process to find more options for you, and a lot of politicians just sit back and vote no because they are afraid of just these scare tactics from counterfeit kelly. Instead of him being honest about what their plan will do, the public option will end medicare as we know it, will take away private Health Insurance for 178 Million People and raise your taxes. It is dangerous. Im going to fight against it, but no, these votes and the scare tactics it is a lie. Im passionate about fixing the Healthcare System thats broken right now mr. Kelly, quick rebuttal, please. Those protections by the way, that 2. 8 million arizonans have, well, 7. 5 million of us were saved by john mccain, in a vote in the United States senate. He saved the Affordable Care act so he saved those protections that senator mcsally spent years trying to undo. Okay. We need to move on here. Senator, you have consistently supported President Trump. You supported the administrations policy. Youve voted policies, i should say. And you have voted not to convict on impeachment. Are you proud of your support for President Trump . Well, i am proud that im fighting for arizonans on things like cutting your taxes. We passed the tax cuts and jobs act. On average, arizonans had their taxes cut by 2,000. We fought to cut your taxes. We fought to rebuild our military after the Obama Biden Administration decimated our military. 25 cuts when deployments were going up. We had a force, voted to secure or border, thats National Security. That means something here in arizona. We see the cartel activity. Im tied for first for most bills signed into law out of any of the hundred senators with the six most bipartisan senator. Thats my record, fighting for arizona, puttingless on the president s desk putting legislations on the president s desk. I put legislation on president obamas desk when i was in the house. I put legislation on President Trumps desk. I go to washington, d. C. With an az on my jersey to fight for arizona. This is what at stake here. My opponent said he would support sanders at the top of the ticket when he was surging. This is going to decide the Senate Majority, if biden, schumer and pelosi are in charge, they are going to ram through the most radical agenda that we see. Counterfill kelly says hes an counterfeit kelly say hes a moderate and lots of platitudes here, but the stakes could not be higher. You want tax cuts im your girl. You want the largest tax increase in the history . You have someone else over here. Are you proud of your support for President Trump . Im pride to be fighting for arizona every single day, putting legislation on President Trumps desk. You are proud of your support for President Trump . You put at the legislation we put on his desk it is to cut arizona taxes. It sounds like shes proud of her support for President Trump. Im proud of supporting for arizona. Why was he wanting to support Bernie Sanders . Regarding President Trump, your overall impression of his behavior and actions in office. Your opponent just basically said shes proud of her support. Would you support such a person . No, not acceptable and but what really concerns me are the things that matter to every day arizonans, like their healthcare, like a 1. 9 trillion dollars tax cut that he passed that went to the biggest corporations and the wealthiest americans. And after that tax cut was passed, twice as Many Companies paid 0 dollars in federal income tax. Thats not leadership. Thats not what we need. I think that was a mistake. That didnt help middle class taxpayers and working class folks here in arizona. So i have major concerns. But we have an election in 30 days. And america has a choice to make, as to who the next president is going to be, who is going to serve in the senate, the house, governors races around the country. These are serious issues. Weve got a Public Health crisis and a serious economic crisis. Weve got a United States senate thats gone on vacation four times since this pandemic has started. And i dont think senator mcsally has stood up once to her party and said why are we going home . We have serious issues to address. Arizona has 420,000 individuals trying to get by on 240 a week. They are having to make horrible choices about paying their rent and buying groceries and filling their prescriptions. Thats not choices that arizonans should have to make when they did nothing wrong here. The federal government and senator mcsally failed. We have 4 of the worlds population, right now, weve got 21 of the deaths from covid19. 210,000 individuals have lost their lives. Would you have voted to convict President Trump of impeachment . Well, first, i wanted to see, you know, testimony from the white house, witnesses, that would have been a good starting point, but based on the information i had, yes. Senator mcsally, real quickly, on your end, would you have wanted to serve under someone like a donald trump when you were in the military . Well, again, im proud to be working with the president to rebuild our military. Under obama and biden, they cut our military to the bone. We had a readiness crisis like we havent seen in so many years, since really jimmy carter. Now were giving them everything they need to fight tonight. But if you look at what biden, schumer and pelosi will do if they are in charge, they are going to cut our military to pay for their scheme. Talking about taxes, i released my taxes today. So im transparent. So that people can see what kind of money ive made how i made it and what i paid in taxes and deductions and gave to charity. Im calling on my opponent to also release his taxes so arizonans can see where hes made his money over the last five years. And where that came from, and this is just basic transparency. The tax cuts that im very proud of, very proud of because a family of four in arizona, they make 60,000 before they pay their first dollar in taxes. This is meaningful to arizonans. And senator, the question remains, would you have liked to have served under someone like a donald trump when you were in the military . Someone who is giving our military everything they need to fight tonight, weve had 75 of our army units who couldnt deploy under obama and biden. So the answer is yes. Giving us what we need so that we are not looking into museums for parts for airplanes, so that we can ensure that we can fight against our enemies. We gave them the largest pay raise in ten years. Were investing in capabilities to take on china. This is so important that we continue to support our military, and ive been working with President Trump to rebuild them. All right. Thank you, candidates. Were going to take a short break here. We will get right back to the debate, and well do so in just a few minutes. We are back for the debate between the two candidates running for u. S. Senate in arizona, incumbent republican senator Martha Mcsally and democratic challenger mark kelly. All right, the question for both of you, were going the talk specifically about border communities. As you know, travel restrictions do continue at ports of entry. Travel is down by about 40 , which equates into a drop in sales tax revenue in communities directly along the border, which as you both know face challenges when it comes to poverty. What sort of plan do you have to give those communities extra support as we come out of the pandemic . Senator mcsally, we will begin with you. Great. First passed the cares act to be able to get relief out to families and to Small Businesses, but uniquely on the border, you know, helped pass usmca. This is a great opportunity for cross border commerce and more jobs in arizona. And ive delivered on the ports of entry, the san luis port of entry, i delivered to be able to get over 150 Million Dollars to upgrade that. And part of my bipartisanship ive been working with senator cinema on issues of the border so people can travel more than 75 miles. A bill were both behind and spend more money around arizona in border communities and beyond. But when were talking about the border, theres a lot at stake here. Border security is National Security. I do support the president s border wall, the border wall system. And Border Patrol agents and ranchers are really seeing a difference. You know, my opponent, unfortunately when the Vice President of the Border Patrol council went to meet him at the veterans day parade last year reached his hand out to shake his hand he wouldnt shake his hand turned away you are one of them when nobody was looking. Mark kelly says hes for Border Security but turns back and wont shake the hand of a Border Patrol agent. When he ran this Political Organization, mentioned earlier, 57 Million Dollars raised endorsing candidates all over the country. He also endorsed david garcia for governor who said we shouldnt have any borders. We should have no Border Security. No border wall. I mean, thats whats at stake here when he says one thing here which he will talk about Border Security and being behind david garcia and not shaking a Border Patrol agents hand thats another example of counterfeit kelly saying one thing on camera or in 30 second ads but doing something totally different when nobody is looking. 45 seconds, did you not shake the hand of a federal Law Enforcement officer . That never happened. I will shake anybodys hand any time. Im the son of two Police Officers. My mother was one of the First Female Police officers in northern new jersey. I dont know where senator mcsally gets this stuff from. But from the agent. Do you believe in more Border Security . First of all, the question was about sales tax and i believe you mean because the ports of entry have been closed that these communities are suffering economically. I think it is important to note that senator mcsally months ago at the beginning of this pandemic clearly said that towns and cities, communities shouldnt get extra help from the federal government to get us through this crisis. And i think thats wrong. Thats why these communities are suffering. But the main reason why theyre suffering is we have a failure of leadership to address to address a serious pandemic. Weve got 4 of the worlds population. 21 of the covid19 deaths. This administration and senator mcsally didnt take the appropriate action necessary to get this under control. There was no there was no plan when we we shut down the economy, and then we didnt have a plan to what do we do now . They just basically ignored it. There was no plan for testing and contact tracing. You know, so i think its important to note that. We need strong Border Security. You know, that is clear. I worked at nasa for, you know, 15 years. You know, nasa wouldnt give you the 1th century 17th century solution to the 21st century problem. Theres a way to do this. Border security is incredibly important to our state and our economy. Senator mcsally, you have expressed support for President Trumps border wall. Theres some concern about how it was funded though. The president said mexico would pay for it. That hasnt happened. Also. So money was diverted from the defense department. You have already expressed support for the military clearly and how President Trump has handled it how do you feel about how the money is being used for the border wall . Border security is National Security. We shouldnt have to choose. Im for both. Im voting for increased funding for both of those. He said hes against a 17th century solution which means hes against a border wall which fifth generation ranchers are seeing right now what the border wall system is doing to stop the illegal activity across their ranch. Mr. Kelly tries to pretend hes just an independent, not political guy, but over the last decade, he has led one of the most sophisticated radical Political Organizations, and while hes saying one thing here in phoenix, he was literally flying all over the country to bank roll and to endorse extreme liberal candidates who are so left wing and dangerous on these policies like members of the squad, ilhan omar, talib, they are leading the effort to abolish i. C. E. Free healthcare for everybody here illegally, decriminalizing Border Crossing . This is what is at stake in this election. They will ram through this agenda which is so extreme. Mr. Kelly has been funding and bankrolling and endorsing these extreme candidates who are behind these ideas over the last decade. Make no mistake, he is a political operative. It was a very sophisticated operation. That impacts our Border Security. Time is up. Would you like to respond please . Border security is critical to our state. What we need is technology in the appropriate places. In some places a barrier and fencing completely makes sense. More Border Patrol agents on the border. Thats, you know, smart way to do this. I think we also need more judges to handle asylum seeker. Weve got to address this issue of Daca Recipients and give them certainty in their lives. Senator mcsally used to support dreamers and then she said daca is unconstitutionally. There was a bipartisan agreement on a pathway to a normal status for dreamers, senator mcsally used to support it and then when it wasnt politically convenient anymore, she, you know, decided not to. Thats not the independent leadership that arizona needs. Senator mcsally, we will want to get your take on daca. To follow up on this, there have been many people on both sides who have said yes Border Security vitally important but talk more about technology as opposed to the wall the old joke was build a 10 foot wall someone will find an 11 foot ladder. Is there more to be done with Border Security than just President Trumps wall . It is a border wall system. When you talk to the ranchers it really makes a difference, whether theres chicken wire, a paved road, a sonar sensors allowing Border Patrol to use intelligence operations to detect and intercept the activity, using airborne assets and manned and unmanned and airborne assets and other things it is all of the above. The border wall system is making a difference. Mr. Kelly still hasnt answered the question as to saying hes for Border Security but you support politicians like omar and talib, sanders, david garcia. If david garcia were our governor right now, we would have a governor who is against any sort of border on the south side of arizona. What is up with that . Do you want to denounce those endorseme endorsements . Border security is incredibly important for our state. And you know, i have already addressed this. I would not provide a 17th century solution to this. If you were to ask nasa to do this, it would be technology. It would be some of the things that senator mcsally just mentioned, but to build a wall for 2,000 miles of border, 20 Million Dollars a mile, those resources could be used for the technology. It could be used for more Border Patrol agents on the border. These are there are smart ways to address this, and you asked about funding for military bases. You know, senator mcsally voted to take away money from a fort to pay for the border wall. An arizona senator shouldnt be taking away money from arizona bases. Moving on to Immigration Reform. Mr. Kelly, President Trump wants congress to pass legislation that would make our immigration system more of a merit based system rather than the current familybased system. Is that a good idea . Well, im in support of, you know, h 2b visas h 1 bs and h 2 as, agriculture workers but also folks that are educated. We need an immigration system thats consistent with our values and support our economy. If President Trump has a proposal for something that does those things recognizing were a country of immigrants. I come from a family of immigrants. I think most of us do. If there are proposals from this president , if im elected to the United States senate, President Trump is reelected, i will work with him on anything that is in the best interest of arizona. Senator mcsally, do you favor Immigration Reform that includes a way for young dreamers brought to this country as children to become legal permanent citizens . My heart goes out to these young people who are brought here as children no fault of their own. They know no other country but america. And i have been leading on solutions to provide a legal path for Daca Recipients. But we cannot just address that issue. We have got to address the root issues as well of why we are in this situation in the first place. Thats why it is so important for us to continue to secure our border, complete the border wall system, provide our Border Patrol agents who i have their backs. He wont shake their hand but i have their backs, provide them everything they need to keep us safe. And as we move forward, we have got to close these loopholes because we see where the cartels, see the they can just traffic families, traffic children, on this dangerous journey, they are going to be able to use those loopholes. We need to close these loopholes to ensure the families can come together, a Legal Immigration system where people come through the front door. I have been leading on this issue in the house and senate. We have to have the Border Security. Weve got to close those loopholes so we dont find ourselves in the same situation with another dacalike group of young people in another five, 10, or 15 years. Mr. Kelly, should daca be contingent on other aspects of Border Security . So Border Security is incredibly important. We need it. But we have 28,000 mostly young people in the state of arizona who i look at as american as my own two kids. And i think they should have a pathway to citizenship right now. Thats something senator mcsally used to kind of support. She was in favor of a daca program. Now she says it is unconstitutional. So i dont think its contingent on anything. Stand alone issue for you. Stand alone. Stand alone for you . I believe weve got to pair it ive been leading on this issue, trying to provide a path forward for these young people. But weve got to address the root causes of why were in this situation in the first place because all it will do like we have seen in the past is incentivize more illegal activity. My opponent mr. Kelly, mr. Counterfeit kelly hasnt explained why he supported david garcia to be the governor of arizona. Why he said he would support Bernie Sanders. Why he bankrolled Rashida Talib who has some of the most dangerous ideas on abolishing i. C. E. And sanctuary cities as well as ilhan omar in minneapolis and many others who are from the radical left arm of the democrats. 57 Million Dollars he raised from some of the most extreme left wing people in the country in order to then endorse and bankroll these individuals who are now in office with these ideas that are dangerous for arizona. So just to be clear, for the people who are watching at home, and dont know what group you are talking about or these endorsemen endorsements, can you please be specific about the group and the endorsements . I think he knows. Again, it is a very radical Political Organization thats raised 57 Million Dollars, and then again, hes been a political operative for a decade. At the state legislature, at the governors, those running for house and those running for senate, some of the most extreme left wing candidates in our country running for office, bankrolling them, endorsing them, look at the photo. Hes got his arm around omar in minneapolis. What are you doing in minneapolis hugging omar . incredible challenge. So i formed an organization to try to make it easy and make community safer. Safer from gun violence. I will support the Second Amendment. Im again owner. Horizon traditions are so important. The Second Amendment is so important. But we can never let a bunch of kids in the classroom get killed and say there is nothing we can do about it. Common sense things like red flag laws. These are commonsense things that most arizonans support. Apparentlys senator sally does not. Senator sally, the president and wall street journal the Atlantic Monthly cnn, fox news. All reporting a refer to members of the military as losers. Insiders. You are military veterans. Your thoughts on this. Speech of what i can tell you is that ive been able to serve in the military. We are working to rebuild our military after obama decimated our military. Giving our troops everything they need in order to fight. Weather units where they were not ready to go. There decimated the readiness crisis. Add more dying and training accidents that in combat. In the years of obama and biden predesigned working with President Trump to rebuild our military. To save they tend by the way, something that i did when president obama try to get it right and then went i will say again, this is critical produce on in the troops are on the ground. Some boys would have the militarys back. But what is at stake here should we lose the white house and senate and the house, and come to arizona. This race will decide the Senate Majority. And Chuck Schumer is so proud to have recruited mark Kelly Paredes bankrolled his campaign. Is trying to ensure that he has power. And if they get power, the radical left will cut our military to pay for the grain bad deal. The government take takeover of healthcare. So i am going to stand every single day with her men and women in the military im going to fight to give them everything they need. Thats what is at stake here. The question remains have you looked into the reports, the Anonymous Sources reports. Doesnt concern a lot of people in love military families. Doesnt concern you. Martha mcsally i get up every single morning fighting for arizona. That is what i spent time doing. I listen to what they need. And i fight for them. You can look into those anonymous allegations and im just telling you that i am fighting for our military. Im fighting for our veterans. They will cut our military again thinking power. Doesnt concern you mr. Kelly. Mark kelly absolutely. An essay that about the deceased veterans who died in battlefield and calling them losers and suckers. But also concern me is what he said about senator john mccain. Repeatedly. More than one occasion. Especially after, when he passed away. Those comments are just uncalled for. Sooner mccain was a hero of mine from my earliest days in the United States navy is a navy pilot, anything that we looked up to. He is the guy that in the unfortunate situation that you ever got shot down, he was the model. I later got to call him a friend. I got to know him which is one of the greatest honors of my lifetime i would site. And to hear senator mcsally not stick up for john mccain when the president of the United States is attacking him for repeatedly print even after he passed away. And as a veteran, i find it incredibly hard to understand that not one occasion when senator mcsally come to sooner mccains defense. Did you not stick up for him. Martha mcsally i absolutely have. I have publicly and privately repeatedly talk to President Trump and asked him to stop attacking john mccain. And quite frankly if this is me off when he does it. Its been an honor to even work with senator john mccain. I learned about him as a cadet in the military about what he endured as a pow. And to be able to work with him to save and support our military enough to be able to serve in tennessee. So i repeatedly said stop doing that unit let him rest in peace. But one thing about senator mccain that we know if youre in arizona. Whether you agree with them or disagree with them, he always know where he stood. There is not another example that were trying to invoke him but you can even take simple positions on whether going to support your card printer and investment Chuck Schumer or whether you support inc. For yoy one thing in the clouds of platitudes would you getting until arizonans where you stand. Thank you senator. Lets move on to Climate Change annually check 90 seconds to respond to this question. The driest hottest summer on record in arizona, the Water Supplies as you both noticed in a precarious position. Recent polls show the 70 percent of arizona want Climate Change to be a national priority. How do we affordably transition to a new solution. Senator mcsally we will start with you. Speech of the climate is changing. There is a Human Element to it. The question is what we do. What we should not do is the grain bad deal and is been proposed the author of the greendale is someone in my opponent endorsed and bankrolled. And he said his van the fossil fuels and have a carbon tax himself. With that deal would do is cause 93 trillion. That is 65000 for every household in america, every year. This heavyhanded approach would be devastating to our economy. And you can just look nextdoor in california. Their client is heavyhanded mendes that are not working. They have blackouts right now because it is not based on the science. I have been leaning on efforts to ensure that we have all of the above Energy Strategy more finally in a place where were energy independent. I just went to the middle east five times and wants to afghanistan. Burnout and exporter of energy. We need additional clean energy for sure but that includes nuclear, nuclear plant. Ive been leaning on it for so that we can have more research. In the Energy Storage because right now the centrist amanita we dont have a good level of storage. For any of that storage, even if it is for two hours only relying on china for those minerals. So you gonna bring those home. You said you would band fossil fuels before carbon tax. How is that any different than the grain bad deal. Support of the author of the greendale which would be devastating for arizona households. The Rural Communities who cannot afford their electric bills as it is. List to innovation, not what theyre offering. Mark kelly says the Green New Deal was authored, i have been against it. Theres a lot of stuff in there and has nothing to do with climate. Made that very clear. In the way she said i am against fossil fuels. Im a pilot of an airplane. So senator mcsally. You cant do that without fossil fuels. Its kind of the whole thing is kind of city. But never forget that for some it is your planet the first time from lower over in saint this big round ball and realizing that we are really all in this together. It becomes very clear very quickly that we have no place left to go. There is no planet b. Were not moving somewhere else someday. We have to do it better job taking care of this planet. We have gone from about 280 parts per million of co2 in the atmosphere pre Industrial Revolution to about 420 today. Talk about flattening of the earth. This card we need to flatten. Though i were going to do that is going to move to more Renewable Energy with senator mcsally just a followup, the money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of corporate checks from oil and gas companies. And gives them a 20 billiondollar tax cut essentially. That is why were having a difficult time solving this problem. This could be good for arizona. Click send the investment tax by five years, 30 percent on solar energy this could be good job so we can create the technology here. We can manufacture here we can deploy here. It would be great for our state but we cannot wait around and do nothing anymore. We need independent leadership in washington dc thats going to put arizona first. Not putting Big Corporation on the other side of the country first. Do you support mandate or deadline to get this done. Lorraine zero emission vehicles by a certain date. Mark kelly i think when this administration rollback emission standards and also clean air regulations and clean water regulations, and i were going to have more polluted air and more polluted water and senator mcsallys supported all of that and that was a mistake. Lorraine senator do you support that. Martha mcsally about clean air and clean water but why dont want it to hurt arizonans, who are working for rural is unafraid was in trouble communities who cannot afford these mandates that are coming from washington dc that are not based on science. It is so that under obama vanilla going too far. As another example where saying he did it say he banned fossil fuels. In that interview lester he said those very words. I think we should van fossil fuels and have a carbon tax. It would hurt the working in Rural Communities the most. So im planning on investing in energy research. So we can have Energy Storage and we can find cleaner ways for our energy to move forward been doing based on the science and innovation. We went to innovate our way out of this. America lead the way. In the meantime, permissions are going to uncover co2 missions are going on. China is a big coleader. It is doing business with it. Remissions are going up to less innovative way out. Not and fossil fuels like kelly was to do. Sue and there is no circumstance where i ever said to ban fossil fuels. So at this point, shes just making stuff up. Climate question is that limited our cities in the wake of the killing of george floyd in may. We sell rallies and protests. President trump in some cases referred to them as violence. We seen their discussion who is on the right and who is on the left who is causing these problems. The fact is if you were to be in the senate, that could be a auto response ability in terms of funding for our cities. Funding for police forces. Where you stand on that in terms of helping our cities deal with some of this, whether the social injustice, Racial Injustice are just Police Relations with communities. Mark kelly the promise of our country should not be that your face determines what kind of education you get. I kind of healthcare you can get, success in life for how an interaction with police is going to turn out. We need some reform rated with my parents were cops. So i understand it is incredibly difficult job. Police officers need the resources to do a very hard job. Im 100 percent behind that. Its a difficult job and i recognize that. But their necessary reforms in leasing needed. But the process that we have seen, across the country. There is no place for that. I fought to defend our constitution, our first amendment, right for people to peacefully protest. But we have seen over the last months, is beyond that. It needs to end. In cities and communities need the resources to deal with this in an effective way. And weve got to an common sense things that we can do he mostly africanamerican men safer in these encounters in their encountering police. More accountability, independent oversight and body cameras. Consent decrees which is the department of justice overseen Police Apartments when they need to make some changes. This issue of qualified immunity. These are common sense the that can be done to reform policing and i think it is necessary with the violence we see in our communities have to and afraid of the federal government should be helping with some resources. Or make sense our governors need that. What would you want to see that. Martha mcsally whether its in any institution or in anyones heart. It is only one candidate appear who has had to apologize for race this sort stop me. And if you watch the murder of george floyd, its despicable, not just to the officer who killed him but the system by and allowed it to happen. So we moved forward from Common Sense Police reforms. It was about 70 percent of what the democrats were asking for. It was good reform. In order to address these issues, gave more funding to police. I backed the blue. I got in the endorsement of the arizona place association. What is happening right now in our cities of violence, is despicable. Ac any on the left or just standing by and doing nothing. And again ive asked my opponents, when they want to take back the endorsement that he gave to omar who in minneapolis, leading the effort to defund the police. A standing there with his arm around him. This is dangerous. Those 12000 officers in arizona place, they know that i got there back in this weather backing me. And i think i just heard him i would like to know if you would vote for tim scott spell but i think i just heard that he wants to support criminals being able to sue Police Officers just doing the jobs. I know its like to make life and death decisions in combat in our minimum men but everything today is that families goodbye. They need to did you say you supported that. The nancy pelosi both of you also endorsed and supported. To allow criminals. Mark kelly the Leadership Conference on the human and civil rights is inadequate. And other organizations that did not include immunity parkinson to praise. Did not include body cameras or use of force laws. I think when Police Officers were found, that there were serious wrongdoings and should be unaccountability aspect to that. It is assented to Police Officers greeted my mom and my dad, i realize this is a tough job. But it should be accountability independent investigation and there should be oversight. Our cities safe. Some would say President Trump us had some of the racial problems make it to seem like theres a divide between white and black. Speech of the violence and energy happening across the country is devastating to local Community Spread the local immunities and violence is going up. Listened to what he just sent. Said he would support allowing criminale the Police Officer simply for doing their job. That is why there backing me. Those Police Officers now in the attacks that are going up on the right now vilifying them. They are led by people like omar. His wingman, that is what is happening right now. We need more funding of the police. We need to back blue and local mayors, they need to survive public safety. They are given which we need to stop from happening and abilify and defund the police and then come after you segment amendment right so you cant defend yourself and your family sprayed i back the blue. We need to make sure that they have everything they need. Do you support criminally following Police Officers just are doing the job. Mark kelly no but when there is wrongdoing, and clearly there was an investigation. And part of being accountable and part of being respectful in the community i think there should be some level of accountability for cops when there is clear wrongdoing. Speech of these men and women in blue could lose their retirements their homes, their College Funds simply for doing their job. Getting sued by criminals thats what it means you guys. I fact the blue. Lets move on. Senator mcsally, after lester, he said you would be open to considering red flag omar to keep weapons away from dangerous people. Is that the case and what specifically would that look like. It. Martha mcsally play said is we need to do everything we can in order to stop these tragedies from happening. And ive been meeting on this in the house and the Senate Freedom that background check for some but often is not working as it is rated that shootings have been were should been in the system but instead they pass the background check. So i passed that act make sure that we strengthen the background check system. We need more Mental Health support freedom leading the effort to get more Mental Health funding out there. And more support for schools for them to have the security the need to parents can drop the kids off the schools and ensure they are safe. But right now more than ever, on the Second Amendment senator. Thirty milli mentor on the a10, our Constitutional Rights are at risk right now. Counterfeit kelly can say that ive got some guns. But make no mistake, the jet agenda of those he says supported includes people like hard work and others. They coming after our Second Amendment rights now. Lawabiding citizens deserve to keep their ability to defend their families and defend their lives. We are one judge away from losing our Second Amendment rights. The legislative agenda will be coming after them. So we can do things like ive let on in order to protect communities but we must protect the Second Amendment. Lester you said you are open to considering the laws point is that right. Sweet if youre misstating the conversation we were happening with the white house. We need to make sure that 70s been adjudicated, mentally ill, i adjudge. There in the system. Thats what the law is right now. In any states dont present that information so the people end up passing a background check anyway freighted with that have these processes for people with veteran short the Constitutional Rights are never taken away unless they have gone through that process. The laws are on the books. Theyre a or a domestic abuser adjudicated mentally ill. I support the Second Amendment. We need to do everything we can obviously keep communities safe. But you all, people you are supporting them and they want to defund police. And then they want to take when Second Amendment rights. So you cant. We have had multiple conversations with your office. I would declare that that i did not misspeak. Mr. Kelly, a lot of Americans First heard of you as the voice of gun control in the station. Are you running for the u. S. Senate and you have not raised the issue of gun safety or gun control much rated over the last year that you been in this race were not. Mark kelly issues incredibly important to me and its incredibly important to arizona. I have dispersed and senator mcsally, i have a lot of respect for that 30millimeter cannon in the a10 senator mcsally to shoot. Its a great weapon system. Im a supporter of the Second Amendment and i have been my whole life. I remember when my dad gave me my first firearm. I was in texas going to flight school. I just got my wings. And bobby a 9 millimeters glock. Thats a gun that affluent combat with. In the first gulf war. Its one of my most prized possessions. I have a lot of firearms but i dont think we should ever get to the point where we think a bunch of the kids getting killed in the classroom is normal. It is not consistent with our Second Amendment rights. We can respect our rights and traditions freedom of gun ownership under the Second Amendment. We can have stronger communities that include things like you mentioned pride red flag laws. Background checks for gun sales. Senator mcsally the message said that background checks are the institutional freighted wealth most goods are sold the background to bring out there on the loopholes that you can drive a truck through. The majority of arizonans for background checks for gun sales and reflect laws. Is a common sense things that will keep communities safe and at the same time, we can respect our Second Amendment rights. Why havent you talk more about your viewpoints on this on the campaign trail. It. Mark kelly i generally talk about what folks asked me about. They often asked about their healthcare, prescription drugs, the price of Prescription Medication prayed about this pump recently named ophelia she was having to make these horrible decisions about whether she feels her sons prescription, or prescription to buy or buy groceries for the week. Thats a horrible choice and arizonans currently have to make. These on the issues the folks care about. Not getting covid19 relief rated we have so any arizonans and somebody members our community there really struggling freighted food banks, are maxed out. Folks are having to make these horrible choices in the United States senate went home. It is not leadership for arizona. Are you against background checks for all gun sales freighted speedo for the Second Amendment. Heres another example where my phone it says ive got a gun. The reason he is not talking about it is because arizonans care about their Second Amendment Constitutional Rights freighted and judy get elected, a switch to the Senate Majority they will be able to run through the most radical anti Second Amendment agenda freighted hes going to lead the charge over the last ten years supporting the most extreme leftwing elements of his party the frankenstein he created freighted now leading the effort to dig where Second Amendment rights freighted. He only 30 seconds left. Are you against background checks for all consents. Martha mcsally ive been strengthening the background check system that we have. Often times the money is prohibitive and not in the background check system. So ive been lady strengthen the system that we have while ensuring that arizonans rights are protected. Thats what we have to stop it right there. Its now time for closing statements. It would begin with mark kelly. Mark kelly thank you everybody for spending the time to listen to senator mcsally and to me tonight. This is a critical moment for our country interstate freighted and partisan politics has made this crisis worse and partisan politics and partisan politicians are not going to get us out of it. We need independent leadership. Focus on solving the problems we face freighted like beating this virus and rebuilding our economy freighted lowering the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs. I can been entered bring my strengths as a combat pilot and is now struck and engineered to the United States senate to solve these Serious Problems. But i can do that without to vote. Whether youre an independent or republican or democrat free to ask for your vote. These are serious challenges that we face freighted by working together as a team, we can solve the Serious Problems thank you everybody. For the final closing statement, return to senator Martha Mcsally. A speech of president we start voting tomorrow. As such a consequential Decision Point will decide this in a majority freighted will decide the direction of our country. You do have a choice here. Sony is been a fighter for you i will continue to be a fighter for arizona. Her counterfeit who are enabled the radical left in their agenda to be forced on it. Theres a lot at stake here. Im humbling asking for your vote. Mark this is been a great discussion and thanks for everybody for the under station here. Think arizona really prefer this probably for the 30 seconds like tv ads. So what we do do this three more times the next few weeks. Lincoln go to green valley, yuma, prostate freedom start local media would support holding these debates. And we agree right now, lets do three more of these runners on. Because arizona really deserve to have this conversation candidate candidate rated. Mark kelly about next week. Martha mcsally , proves my poin. It. Thats it for the u. S. Senate. Brought to you by arizona citizens. Cbs. Arizona republic, radio and arizona public media. If you like to hear more about the debate including analysis from the four of us, please join us immediately after on whatever live streams. Postdebate analysis show will be carried on arizona central. Com. Ajc. Are an ac pbs. Org freighted. We hope you join us for future debates. Theres one thursday night and debate for america for county sheriff Sheriffs Office on friday. Thank you for your participation in thank you for joining us as well. You have a great evening. Great. President trump returned to the campaign trail today the rally scheduled in florida. Just north of orlando. Will have live coverage starting at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. You can also watch online, the cspan. Org rated present live using free cspan radio app. This evening Mitch Mcconnell and u. S. Senate democratic candidate, amy take part in the televised debate. Television and the university of kentucky are sponsoring the event. Life coverage start at seven eastern on cspan online as he spent on herbalism of the free cspan radio app. This is an Election Year. We are confirming the judge an Election Year after the voting has occurred. What will happen is my democratic colleagues will say this is never been done in the right in this regard freighted nobody is ever been confirmed since past july. The bottom line is Justice Ginsburg when asked about the several years ago, said the president serves four years about three. Theres nothing unconstitutional about this process freighted this is a vacancy that is acquired through a tragic loss of a great woman. Quite a fill that vacancy with another great woman. The bottom line here is that the senate is doing its duty. And constitutionally. Judge garland. The opening that occurred the passing of the Justice Scalia was in the early part of an Election Year. Primary process such as started and we can talk about history but heres the history as i understand it. Theres never been a situation where you had a president of one party in the senate of another when the nominee of the replacement was made an Election Year, is been over 140 years ago freighted think it was in 19 vacancies in Election Year. And 17 to 19 with confirmed the court that the party of the president with the same rated in terms of timing, the hearing is starting 60 days after nomination. Or than half of all Supreme Court hearings have been held within 16 days freighted of the nonsense of the nominee. All i can say is that i feel that we are doing this constitutionally. Her democratic friends object freighted object to the process and i respect them all. They will have a chance to have their say but most importantly, i hope we will know more about how the law works the checks and balances. With the Supreme Court is all about. When the syrians over. The Supreme Court confirmation hearing on judge Amy Coney Barrett began today with opening statements. He watched day one on the judge Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearing tonight starting at 8 0. Joining us now, for discussion on his book about the Political Forces issued the 2016 election and continue to change america. The title of the book,