Transcripts For WMUR Closeup 20160918

We got to work right away. We talked about how to grow our economy with theayor of nashua. Josh as soon as the results came in, you jumped in the lead and never gave it up. Were you surprised . Mr. Van ostern we were glad it was a decisive victory and that the other candidates were gracious in pledging immediate support. There are only eight weeks to go less now. That is why we wanted to get started in talking about big issues that is the sort of thing this campaign is going to focus on every day. Josh you have been focused on the issues. You brought up the other candidates. All three of you you d better than the other two, but all three of you struggled with name id. Why were you able to break through, do you think, and how mr. Van ostern there were some differences, but i think folks looked at my background. I have helped great New Hampshire companies grow, like southern New Hampshire university, where helped start a college that now has thousands of students getting a degree with no debt. And we need to support planned parenthood funding 100 of the time. I think that proved to be a convincing background are the results that matter to their lives. Good schools, good jobs, low taxes, efficient State Government with less red tape. Those are the issues i have been focused on. Josh you have two dam executive counselors you have two executive councilors left standing. Dartmouth hitchcock had to deal with layoffs. What is your take . Mr. Van ostern it was a bipartisan and unanimous vote to approve the contract. It came after some delays. Only after we were sure there would be very specific requirements for staffing and qualifications. I am glad dartmouth has reaffirmed, after these disappointing layoffs, that they will meet every item within the contract specifications. I will hold them to that, as an executive council. We will not relax the standards simply because of the economic challenges and layoffs they are going through. What matters is patient care. Josh the number of people who have said dartmouth hitchcock was not as transparent as they needed to be leading up to this, but others say there were warning signs. Where do you fall . Mr. Van ostern i think it is ask the state department of health and Human Services to bid at the contract again. I was disappointed they did not. I was disappointed no other business or nonprofit date on the contract in the first place. When i talk about cutting red tape in State Government, when you can do that, it means you have more folks bid. Competition rings better quality and lower prices. I have seen that in places like stonyfield. We need to bring that tota governors office. Governor Maggie Hassan is also at the executive Council Table and will take her knocks for this. What is the next step . Mr. Van ostern what matters is patient care. He had to make sure they are being held to the letter of the law and the contract, that they are legally obligated to do. Josh lets talk about your economic policy. A lot of it is built on a controversial maybe not this is going to be an engine that will really change the complexion of New Hampshire and bring more jobs and change the way the economy runs . Mr. Van ostern it is not a silver bullet, but it is an important tool. Rail shows rail will help New Hampshire girl 5600 jobs. As someone who is helped grow a college where, when i started, thwe southern New Hampshire universitys college for america, we now have hundreds of employees there. Stat thousands of students have enrolled to get a degree without debt. One of the challenges for growing which is true for businesses across the state is access to a well skilled, well educated workforce. That is why i am focused on bringing more young people, new businesses and startups. That is how we grow the state that has no sales task, less red tape, more efficiency. Josh talk about the rail project itself. Other regions have gone through this. Mr. Van ostern successfully. Legal the look at the seacoast. The most successful new rail start in the country over the last decade. Some of our fastestgrowing cities, like dover, who said you guys are be crazy not to have ra it is no help in there is no question it will help businesses grow. And most of the funding we can get from grants that we are not asking for from washington. Sometimes New Hampshires penny wise and pound foolish. We need to be more fiscally responsible. Josh there are some success stories, but there are some why are you convinced this will not wind up being something coming out of the taxpayer pocket . Mr. Van ostern even if you do not sit on the train, he will mean less traffic. I do not think it is one of the other. There is a bridge being built in keene that is coming in at 2 million instead of 4 million, because i asked the state Transportation Department to ask and talk to local officials, and we found a more efficient gn that was not even going to be built this summer. It was being delayed because of red tape. I brought the mayor and state officials together, and we got it back on track. That is the kind of leadership that will grow our economy. Josh lets talk about the opioid crisis. President obama really recognizing the situation, the said that there is no leadership at the state and local level. It is schism of ted gatsas criticism of ted gatsas and Maggie Hassan, it seems. Mr. Van ostern we need to focus on policies are not talking points. At the beginning of this general election wednesday, i brought together Law Enforcement, treatment town squares, doctors, tme there is a new nonprofit that has put together a fivepoint plan on how to overcome this. The first is to successfully expand the plan to make this permanent. It took a lot of work from legislators to get done. It came to the executive council. I voted yes. Ted voted no. I want to make it permanent. This crisis. That is the sort of specific issue we need to focus on. I think this is the sort of thing we need a real debate about. Josh we will talk more about this over the course of the next how do you me the case, how do you break through all the other noise . Because you have a senate race that will. Mr. Van ostern be tough to get attention people need a governor who will focus on two jobs and education. I am a dad, a Business Leader of great New Hampshire employers. A lot of this is not about talking points. It is about results. There are thousands of people getting access to health care, in part because i helped fight to make that happen. Thousands of students getting eight debtfree College Degree because i help launch that our results. Josh now youre running your own race. General election, best of luck to you. We will be right back with chris sununu, challenger on the republican side. Vo kelly ayotte says shes on our side, but on our rights, shes squarely with Donald Trump Trump planned parenthood should absolutely be defunded. Defund planned parenthood. And both oppose our right to safe and legal abortion. Ayotte i certainly think that roe should be overturned. Trump . There has to be some form of punishment. Matthews for the woman . Trump yeah, there has to be some form. Vo ayottend trump wrong for New Hampshire women. Senate majority pac is responsible for the content of this advertising. Oil wells in New Hampshire . Youd think so the way kelly ayotte voted. 0 billion in tax breaks. They gave kelly Ayotte Campaign contributions. Corporate special interests are spending millions supporting her campaign. Like the koch brothers. Kelly ayotte paid for by big oil; voting for big oil. Not working for us. Dscc is responsible for more than anyone else in the governors race, he had the name recognition. Executive councilor chris sununu was able to calm out on come out on top. My next guest this morning. What do you think it was about frank at all blue Frank Edelblut . Mr. Sununu frank ran a great race. He had a great presence with his activist core. Our numbers showed that no one was going to run away from it and no one would be too far left behind. We need frank would be right there at the end. Obviously, it was closer than we thought it would be. It made it exciting for us. In the end, it turned out to be a great unifier. Gathered wednesday. Frank supporters and ted supporters have reached out. They know we need to turn this around that being the lack of leadership in the state. So we are moving forward in one concerted effort. Encouraging. Josh and it happened quickly. When it comes to Frank Edelblut, the socalled antiestablishment appetite appears to be still hungry. Mr. Sununu been the appetite in New Hampshire for decades. We always want the new face. We do not believe in the career politicians. We should now. This is Public Service. I am an engineer. Public service is one way i get back. I think running for governor fits my experience and expertise in doing what we can to make the state move forward. That is the New Hampshire way. Josh people who know you know you are much more outgoing mr. Sununu for the better, i hope. [laughter] josh more outgoing. When it comes to the politics, what are the differences . Mr. Sununu well, i come from a big family. I have tremendous pride when i think of the Public Service my father gave in the 1980s, the Public Service my brother gave. Politics is not a career for us. My father my brother is an engineer and went back to the business. I am a civil engineer. We all have our philosophies. At the end of the day, we are all fiscal conservatives. That is what galvanizes us. That is what galvanized most of the state. We believe in things like low taxes, limited government, local control, personal responsibility. To the table. We need to remind ourselves in concord what those mean and try to bring the policies that will impact peoples lives. Josh you are the executive council. Dartmouth hitchcock would be that of both race. The council and the governor taking heat for this. We have the layoffs. Some people saying there were warning signs out there. Were there . Mr. Sununu theyre absolutely were. I called f t commissions that we wanted to do look at an investigation. I asked the commissioner and the governor very strongly for a review of the Employment Practices of dartmouth hitchcock he would also can do in the contract to increase competition. It could as we did not have competition. The governor and commissioner refused. Josh so why vote for it . Mr. Sununu at the end of the they gave none. With only four weeks to go in the existing contract, by not signing the longterm contract we did sign, kind of reluctantly, we did risk losing those services. Then two days after that, we learned that meant hitchcock is laying off 460 people. That is critical information withheld from the council, the governor, and the commissioner. I read or write. We need to rebid. Answer these questions. I have express that to the commissioner. I am hope bring i am hoping they will ask dartmouths to come to the table. Wherever we do business with, whether a snowplow driver or a mountable Health Services person, they need to be transparent and up front. You cannot have critical information like that being withheld from the council. About the opioid crisis. You said there was a failure of leadership at the state and local level. Day one, what is governor sununu do . Mr. Sununu there are some clear programs. Number one, make sure Law Enforcement is supported. We have a recruitment problem. Not enough folks are looking to become cops. Lean we need to make sure Police Officers have resources. There are programs again look at template business taxdi the back of recovery centers. When kids come out of recovery, the need to come back into the workforce. Right now, we say goodbye and good luck. That leads them back into the system. We need to make sure we are doing things like we do not cut ourselves off with the Good Samaritan law. It sometimes lets joe dealers off the hook. There are things we can do on day one that can make a difference. Who care about this passionately. Are you convinced it is organized well enough or where everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction . Mr. Sununu i am not. I think there is a lot of money in concord that is yet to be put out there. I think there are a lot of quality programs that cannot apply for funding, even though they are having success on their own. We need to make sure successful programs in the state have access to the funds an so we are going in the same direction but we are not in sync. We need to move forward with real leadership at the stop of politics ahead of everything. Josh james vera james vara is the socalled drug czar. His is a oneperson job . Mr. Sununu no. The last drugs. He was a disaster. He did not reach out to the Law Enforcement or medical community. Eventually, we said that we need to communicate. If we are not communicating, we are not achieving what we need to achieve. He was a bad communicator. I was adamant that the governor failed on that. I was adamant when she did not know that we got a 12 main dollars grant. That is where my from. Real examples of rail real examples of failed leadership. Josh we are in the general election now. I am asking the same question i asked colin van ostern. With donald trump of the top of the ticket, hillary clinton, the senate race, how do you break through . Mr. Sununu my campaign is going to be run, Going Forward, just like it was last year. It is about New Hampshire values. Talking about the things that matter jobs, education, the opioid crisis. These are the things we need tangible movement on in the state to get policy where he needs to be so we are all rowing the boat in the same direction. My opponent has been talking about boondoggle train projects. His solutions josh which you are not a fan of, by the way. Mr. Sununu absolutely i am not a fan. This will not drive our economy. To get people to work in boston . That islamic sense. It is not about eight washington programs that require massive subsidies, but that is what theyre talking about. I want to talk about what really matters. It is about jobs, education, fighting the opioid crisis. What we talked about last year and all the way through november. Josh lets talk about the ticket itself. Doing a great job in cd2. Josh how does everyone get under the same umbrella . Is there any awkwardness . Mr. Sununu not at all. The beauty of this year is a lot like what we saw in 2010. A unified republican ticket that gives confidence not just to the republicans but to the independents, to conservative democrats the state forward. We need someone who will make decisive leadership decisions, not just kick the can down the road like we have had. You have had governors in the state the past 10 years who have not pushed the dial forward. Why are our Health Care Costs so high and what are we doing about it . We have done virtually nothing. What will we do to get jobs into the state . To drive growth . If you want the same stagnation, the Republican Party and the republican ticket has great leadership up and down. We are looking to bring Real Solutions to get New Hampshire back to where we were. The Gold Standard other states look to as an example for how to do this right. We do it by doing at the New Hampshire way. Not the washington, big regulation, just referring to what washington does. Washington, d. C. Never has New Hampshires best interests in their heart. If we do it the New Hampshire way, we do it better than will bring to the state house. Josh are a lot of issues moving forward, but for now, congratulations. 52 days. Chris sununu, thank you. We will be back with john to looking back at the week that was. With john distaso, looking narrator over and over its been their agenda anything to defund planned parenthood. Kelly ayotte and Washington Republicans voted 6 different times to defund planned parenthood. Theyre on a crusade to Block Services New Hampshire women and families depend on cancer screenings, basic womens healthcare. Kelly ayotte and Washington Republicans have put Defunding Planned Parenthood at the top of their agenda. And its time for that to change. Im Maggie Hassan josh welcome back to closeup. Joined here by my partner at wmur john distaso. Have not substance what was your Biggest Surprise . John definitely Frank Edelblut. We knew he was running a good race, but we did not realize the breadth of his support. When you have low turnout, he really rallied the conservative case and almost won. Josh a lot of people were saying he is running a good campaign, but i do not think anybody predicted he would come as close. So the challenge Going Forward edelblut folks with these antiestablishment people. John it is the same thing we will hear in the president ial race. The right wing, so to speak, except what they view as he faults of chris sununu, which planned parenthood will probably the be the biggest problem he will have with conservatives. He is going to have an easier time coalescing the democratic side then sununu will the republican side. Josh what are van osterns vulnerabilities . He keeps touting himself as a Business Leader, which may be an exaggeration of ordering to the republicans. John right, according to the republicans. His biggest drawback is name recognition. Maggie hassan had roughly the same name recognition. The difference is they will try to portray sununu just the opposite of what i am talking about. Someone has really right wing p that is difficult to do when you have someone who is an acknowledged prochoice republican. The biggest challenge for van ostern is to overcome the name recognition deficit. And in terms of rallying lipase, i think he will be ok there. Josh stunned about frank guinta. A couple weeks ago, people said there was no chance. Now he is on the ticket. John i have heard a lot of whispering that rich ashoohs campaign was not aggressive enough. I think he finally got aggressive at our debate, but it terms of, again it is all about the base. It was low turnout. A lot of people just did not care about his Campaign Finance violations. Josh or were aware. John or were aware. Josh it was not even violations. It was statements that proved false over the course of the years. For kelly ayotte to call for his recognition, it made kelly ayotte call for his resignation, among others. John you and i were at the unity breakfast. Frank got out there and gave a good speech. He was really open and try to get him to speak. It was interesting when he finished speaking, there was a quick embrace between him and another who said he had lied and betrayed the public trust. The voters of the ones who speak. The Republican Party and those opposed to frank guinta accepted the will of the voters. Voters call. John we have a threeperson race now, because Shawn Oconnor is on the ballot. And carol sheaporter and frank guinta are doing a rerun. Josh it will be another dynamically or we will stay busy. Thanks. Matter of fact coming up next to you until then, that will close this edition of closeup New Hampshire. Otte stopped them. David goethel and when red tape threatened to crush New Hampshires fishing communities, kelly fought to save us. Cheryl colettilawson kellys legislation on the heroin epidemic will help save lives. Jamey french kelly reaches across the aisle to conserve our environment. Becky Stafford Kelly is so committed to our veterans and cares about our needs. Marc baillargeon kelly protected our jobs at the shipyard. Kelly is one of us. Veteran shes not forgotten where shes come from. Brenda willis she cares. Dean kamen thats kelly an independent leader, fighting for New Hampshire. Kelly im kelly ayotte and i approved this message. Sing heroin on and off for a year. I immediately thought not my son. I found him in his bathroom with a syringe still in his hand and that was the worst day of my life. Annie kuster is leading the fight regarding this opioid epidemic. Shes trying to do everything she can to get laws changed. So this doesnt happen again. Shes definitely a leader. I just love annie. Today on matter of fact clinton and trump in a tug of war for key battleground states. Clint has to hold on to all that she has. Can she hold on to a razorthin lead . Plus, the chief strategist for the Republican National Committee Goes one on one with soledad. Soledad how does he consider himself possibly as a uniter . Hold on, sole scrutiny . Soledad the battle for the White Working Class vote. Im soledad obrien, welcome to matter of fact. Soledad thanks for joining me. Well be talking with trump advisor sean spicer in just a few minutes, but first, were well over a year into the president ial election, and polls show its a nailbiter