Report 15 of the 35 senate races are considered competitive including the contest in kentucky where incumbent republican Mitch Mcconnell recently debated democratic candidate amy mcgrath. My name is courtney wheeler, University Kentucky student body president. I went bill bryant from wkyt. The mostwatched senate race in america is happening here in kentucky. Mitchuc mcconnell versus amy mcgrath. While we are not in front of a Live Audience window the race and what is at stake is important to not debate. Over the next hour i will talk with the candidates about everything from the covid19 pandemic to the u. S. Supreme court. Tonight Great Television uk Syrian Government looking you to the kentucky debate. Good evening live from the studios of wkyt in lexington, i am bill bryant enzyme joined tonight by u. S. Senate majority leader Mitch Mcconnell and by retired Lieutenant Colonel amy mcgrath. Were following cdc guidelines tonight while were in the sense to do the candidates and i are age 20 feet each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer our questions in brief rebuttals will also be permitted tonight. Drawing determines the order of who will answer first and Lieutenant Colonel mcgrath will begin with you. Our question is, going into this election nothing impacts voters more than the covid19 pandemic. You have sparred over with each of you shouldhe be tested before this debate. It comes to that. The president and the first lady have had covid19. Kentuckys governor and his family are now in quarantine after an exposure. What should the federal government be doing right now to mitigate the threat fy 19 . The coronavirus has upended all of our lives. If you take a step back and recognize senator mcconnell as Senate Majority leader has highest levels of National Security briefings of anyit memr of congress, and he knew about the dangers ofco coronavirus wae back in january. Did he tell us . Did he come back to kentucky and we need to prepare . Did he get the nation prepared and get our president prepared for what was to be this crisis . No, he didnt. The first time he said the word coronavirus wasnt until the stock market crashed. And all along hes playing these very partisan political games. Even now when kentucky and America Needs more aid. Thats not what you will get from me. I have a plan to us through this coronavirus source schools were opened up safely so we get our economy back and stop playing these games. To this day senator mcconnell still doesnt have a plan, National Testing and tracing plans, and does not come to do whats right for our country. Senator mcconnell. Bill, want to start by congratulating colonel mcgrath for her service in the military. Its beense my privilege to nominate 131 kentucky women to have the same opportunity she did. I also was involved in making it possible for women inpo the military to go into different jobs like being able to fly in combat. With regard to the question you asked, what i did was shepherd through the senate and almost 3 trillion Coronavirus Relief bill which has provided 13 billion for kentucky. Over a billion dollars or hospitals and healthcare providers. I have tried to be a good example, too. When we met back in session in the senate in may i was the one who said we need to wear masks, practice social distancing. Dr. Fauci has made it clear coronavirus is not going away and when you to practice distancing and masks until we finally get the vaccine and can put this in the Rearview Mirror. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath, do you have a rebuttal . Sure. Senator mcconnell, that legislation was passed back in march and who we are, the coronavirus is still happening. House put up legislation in may and its been sitting on his desk all summer long. He took a vacation, didnt see the urgency to do anything. For unemployment. We have three and 2000 kentuckians who still do not have health care. He is walking away from negotiations even now when President Trump even wants negotiations. Sen. Mcconnell what you supported after the cares act was the socalled heroes bill in the house, which included tax cuts for rich people in new york and california, health care for Illegal Immigrants and by the way, that bill that she supported that they passed in the house after the care zach provided more money for puerto rico and it did for kentucky. In spite of her bestefforts shes a national democrat. She is in line with schumer and pelosi and all the rest on all these issues. For kentuckians, President Trump and governor andy this year are the two most important voices they hear regarding coded 19 and their messages are different. How would you rate their handling of the Historic Health crisis me, senator mcconnell . I think they both done the best they can with an unknown disease we were all trying to figure out how to handle. Imagine the situation we had in early march when doctor fauci recommended we shutdown the economy in order to deal with a healthcare pandemic so we were confronted with problems, healthcare emergency and a thshutdown economy at the same time. What to do . The tears act, we drafted it, built it out, appeal to the democrats and the administration and literally flooded the zone with ultimately 300 trillion to deal with the healthcare pandemic and economic crisis created by shutting down the government and we learned some lessons. Doctor fauci indicated where not going to shut the economy down and i agree with him, created a whole different set of problems so in the meantime what we have to do until we get a vaccine is where our masks, practice spsocial distancing and try to prevent the spread. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. I give the president , the white house and this congress and f forits handling of the coronavirus. Hawe have 213,000 americans dead in nine months. Thats more americans dead than world war ii, coria, vietnam, persian gulf war, iraq and afghanistan wars combined and senator mcconnell things weve done a good job . We have 25 percent of the worlds covid cases and we still have a president and mixed messages from this white house on how to handle this virus. Senator mcconnell, his one job is to help america through this crisis right now in passing legislation to keep our economy afloat so the people can make ends meet and instead of doing that, he is trying to ram through a Supreme Court nominee right now instead of negotiating which is what he should have been doing all summer long to make that happen. You have any additional response . She wanted us to pass the bill that provided healthcare for illegals, tax cuts for rich people in new york and california and more money for puerto rico than kentucky. Weve been trying to put something reasonable together that attacks the problem. Alate i laid out a bill in the senate that provided Liability Protections so people didnt get sued as a result of how they handle this. Kids in school, jobs, healthcare, we couldnt get a single democrat to vote for so its pretty clear to me that her party doesnt want tyto get a solution. Lieutenant colonel. And i respond to that . Senator mcconnell three years ago had no problems ramming through, working overtime to pass the 2 trillion debt for the wealthiest one percent and corporations but now when it comes to kentucky families, when it comes to putting food on the table, when it comes to renters that 40 percent of kentucky renters are facing in fiction right now, you will pass the 2trillion and even President Trump once done right now. 2 trillion for corporations, no problem. 2 trillion for kentucky in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a National Crisis we havent seen in 100 years, thats too hard. You both made references to the Economic Activity and the problem we have right now and the trouble with getting a deal. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on our economy and were all well aware that. A 600 federal booth to Unemployment Benefits and in loan forgiveness for small businesses, airlines have started layoffs as federal payroll assistance programs have ended as well though this question which comes from the university of kentucky student and im privileged to have their perspective, where you stand on negotiations on a second stimulus bill and we begin with Lieutenant Colonel mcgrath. As i said before i think its an absolute dereliction of duty do not be negotiating and working on this. This is the first time in a century, in 100 years where we have a major interNational Crisis. Where no one in the world mis looking to the United States for leadership. Think about that. Its because we have such poor leaders right now. Cant get this coronavirus under control and the one thing that our senate is supposed to do is to help people right now. T heres the problem. Senator mcconnell built a senate that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a National Crisis, he cant get it done. Think about that. For that reason alone, he should be voted out of office. Weve got to get our democracy back again. Weve got to get our democracy working because we have to get through this crisis right now. Senator mcconnell. My opponents is entitled to her opinion butnot to her own set of facts heres the situation. Weve been in negotiation with the speaker. Shes been demanding we throw 3 trillion at this problem. In a way hrthat is largely in many respects unrelated to solving the problem. What weve been trying to do is to reach an agreement when you have divided government, you have to reach an agreement. And the speaker has been totally unreasonable and not interested in getting an outcome as we tried and tried and tried as i just said a few minutes ago, i put a bill on the floor with a half 1 trillion, a lot of money , about a month ago to tackle this problem in ahighly targeted way. Going after vaccines, treatments, testing and we couldnt get a single democrat to vote for it. I think they dont want a solution. Prior to the election. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath, 30 seconds s. All summer long senator mcconnell didnt see the urgency of doing anything and negotiating and he says here he says its too hard. Its too hard to negotiate, too hard to get it done basically saying too hard for him. Thats not hard to do whats right or america. Its not hard. Ill tell you whats hard. Strap on a 70 million just your back, landed on an Aircraft Carrier at night in bad weather with nonavigation aid. Thats hard. Doing whats right for the American Public in the middle of a National Crisis, not hard. Senator mcconnell, an additional response. There has to be a y gwillingness on both sides to get an agreement. And the speaker of the house has clearly not been interested in getting an outcome and thats why the talks have gone on for awhile. She chooses to blame the Republican Senate when obviously the biggestpart of the problem has been the democratic house. If youre watching this debate im saying why cant you guys get together and i gethink the answer is the proximity to the election as slow the process and thats unfortunate for the country, its unacceptable that she wants to pass allthe blame on the senate. Ill give you a few seconds. The house passed a bill in may and the senate went on vacation. You just dont do that. You negotiate. Senator, it is a National Crisis. You knew the coronavirus wasnt going and at the end of july. I just think heres the thing, if you want to call yourself a leader, youve got to get things done. Those of us thatserved in the marines we dont point fingers at the other side. We get the job done. Nobody went on vacation except the house was gonemost of the time but nobody went on vacation. We can do things like use telephones. Wecommunicate with each other a wlot. The challenge here was the speaker was simply unwilling to cooperate to the extent that we could get a reasonable proposal. The secretary of the treasury delegated by the president to talk to her went on and on for months and weve belabored this pointpretty thoroughly built. Itseems to me she thinks we are the problem. I think theyre the problem. What we need is a solution. The way you get a solution. We know we have a problem and it is continuing. So is the pandemic continuing. In fact, it appears we have an escalation in many of our state and as a pandemic continues and theweather and aflu season are approaching , what is the appropriate balance to keeping the economy open, students in school if they can be and protecting the health of americans . Senator mcconnell. The biggest thing isthis is not going to put in the Rearview Mirror until we get the vaccine. For those of you who are h familiar with World War Ii History we have the Manhattan Project , youve got to get the atom bomb as quickly as we could to avoid having to invade japan. We have a manhattanproject underway to get the vaccine. Some of our Major Pharmaceutical Companies are already producing doses even before the Clinical Trials have proved out. Were going to get the vaccine in the most rapid period of time that this has ever been done without cutting any corners. And the honest answer bill is until we get the vaccine we cant entirely put this behind us. Weve got a resurgence here in kentucky, a resurgence around the country. The vaccine, the coronavirus is not going to go away until we can kill it and its going to take the vaccine to do that. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. Certainly coronavirus is not going to go away until we get the vaccine but we still have the worst trajectory of first world countries when it comes to the coronavirus and there are other countries that have been able to get this under control and they un done it with a National Testing and tracing plan which we still dont have in this country. This virus was so bungled at the federal level that we literally have states and communities fighting each other or personal protective equipment. There is no leadership atall so what do we need . We need immediate aid right now that unfortunately senator mcconnell want to work on but we need Unemployment Insurance on those people and extension of that four people who have been thrown off their work through no fault of their own. We need things like another round of ppe money for small businesses. We need a testing and tracing plan. I cant believe nine months into this im still saying that and frankly the leadership at the very top to talk to us, to tell us the truth about this virus and howdeadly it is. Center, anything to add. I made three majordeals with joe biden during the obama era. What the problem here is has been an unwillingness of the speaker to make a deal. We can spend the whole debate on this if we want tobut you want to blame the Republican Senate. I think its been clearly the case that if the democratic speaker of the house but there are other issues going on here like a new Supreme Court justice that we might want to cover atsome point. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. I was a United States marine for 20 years. When you go into combat, you dont make excuses. You get the job done. You have a Senate Majority leader, hes a Senate Majority leader rick and all he can do right now is make excuses in the middle of a National Crisis. He has built a senate, was one of the greatest delivery body in the world. Cannot even function. In the middle of a National Crisis really is because of what hes built. Thats why we got to get rid of him. This morning the Senate Judiciary committee began confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Nominee amy comey barrett. This is on the minds of many people and as it turns out many uk students when we ask of them submit their questions. And so one of the students asked should the confirmation hearings be happening this close to an election when early voting is already underway. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. No, thats the short answer. Nobody should be voting on a Supreme Court nominee right now. Four years ago, senator mcconnell said by them, during an Election Year, we dont vote on the nominee. Let the peopledecide. Right now what 22 days to an election , we should let the people decide to read and whats really important is that we should be focusing on a fourkentucky as we talked about and not a Supreme Court nominee see clear about what this is all about. Editor mcconnell for a decade tried to undermine and get rid of the Affordable Care. Legislatively. He could not do it. So now hes trying to do it in the courts. The first case that the Supreme Court is going to hear after the election is going to be about the Affordable Care act and that is something that we really cannot have in kentucky. Because the Affordable Care act did a lot of good for r many many kentuckians. So i dont want to throw it away, i want to fix it. Senator mcconnell. No one believes the Supreme Court is going to strike down the Affordable Care act. What this is really about is trying to change the take away from this extraordinary nominee that is for the senate. An naoutstanding accomplished scholar, a judge on the seventh circuit. A marvelous family, seven children, two of them about it, one of themwith special needs. An absolute legal allstar so e the Judiciary Committee you saw today, they want to talk about anything other than the ognominee. This is a progressive position. My opponent says hes the most aggressive person in kentucky, what does that mean . Want this doctor Supreme Court, and numbers so they can get an outcome they want ridiculous to the district of columbia estate, puerto rico estate, get rid of the filibuster in the senate and in short, if not a dime for the difference between my d opponent and all the National Democrats youvewatched. If you get control of the government, thats what theyll do you. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath, any additional response. I want to do whats right for kentucky always at what im all about. After 36 years in washington this is what you get really a man who basically his word means nothing. Integrity, means nothing. Does one thing four years ago, then just changes his mind and makes him an excuse the next four years. Its what everybody hates about washington. Folks, we cannot change washington until we change the people we send their. Senator mcconnell, additional response. Using those as she runs about the swamp, washington is islam. You want to give this law a place where there are full of influenced settlers and lobbyists, two senators just like thkentucky. Thats one of the things shes in favor of and thats why hes one of the most if not the most progressive persons in kentucky. They want to completely change therules in the senate to give them an advantage. Admit the district and the state, puerto rico is a state, that for new senators for them and then pack the Supreme Court will get the outcomes they want that they cant pass urthrough the congress area. You have a response. I would say senator mcconnell is lying to you about my stances but thats par for the course. Would you favor enlarging the court . E we should be working on unpacking the senate because he has polarized and made this partisan mess of the Supreme Court so bad that people were even saying they were going to vote for or against the nominee before they even had a name and in my mind its just not what we should be looking at. Im focused on kentucky. You notice she wont answer the question and joe swbiden wont answer the question either. What biden says is ill tell you at the election whether hes going to pass the Supreme Court area where entitled to know now whether youre going topack the Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg who we all revere said in an interview last year, nine is the right number. Nine is the right number according to ruth Bader Ginsburg. Its been ninesince 1869. Except for the one yearyou left eight all year long. But ruth Bader Ginsburg also said she didnt think percy should be billed until the nextpresident. It does come down to this. When ruth Bader Ginsburg was initially nominated he was confirmed 96 to 3 at the time. Think about that. Mitch mcconnell wasnt the Senate Majority leaderthan so we actually had regular order. Since hes become the leader he has made this a partisan complete weapon of mass that we have with the Supreme Court. Weve got to get rid of him. Every one of these controversies had been started by our party, bork, thomas, look what they did to cakavanaugh a year ago, trying to destroy his reputation. Me under the constitution the president can nominate for a vacancy on the Supreme Court any time he so chooses and this president has for a vacancy during an Election Year like a lot of other president s have over theyears. 17 of the times theyve been confirmed when you have the parting of the president also in control of the senate. Im not going believe this general topic but if judge barrett is confirmed their arse some belief that roe versus wade, a law that gives women the right to an abortion could be overturned a Western Kentucky University student wants to know your thoughts on that and where you stand on womens Reproductive Health issues and we begin with senator mcconnell. Well, im prolifemyself. And enjoy the support of right to life and the Susan B Anthony was and others who work on this issue over the years area but thats a differentissue and was before the Supreme Courts. Every president has been surprised by how the Supreme Court nominees that they put up have voted. No one knows what may happen with any nominee. Every republican nominee has been projected to be a disaster for women and none of them have turned out that way we dont know how the courtney rule. I suspect this nominee, just like Ruth Baird Ginsburg will not answer any question about the case that might come before her so we will not know. Thats one of the reasons judges have a lifetime appointments, theyre independent. Once they get on the court. If there strict constructionist follow the constitution and the law. The time is up, lieutenant olcolonel mcgrath. Im catholic and im the mother of three small children and chthis issue has been animportant issue to me my whole life. Im somebody that believes elthe government should not be legislating my religion or my religious beliefs among others and i do believe already have reasonable restrictions on abortion in this country as for outlined in roe versus wade. That said, as probably, i am the only woman up here on this base today and the only mother. I if youre talking about life issues, you have to talk about the fact that before the Affordable Care act, in kentucky there was not a single insurer on the individual market that would cover maternity care. And senator mcconnell had a verbal record of trying rto get rid of the Affordable Care act all along. 50 percent of children born in kentucky in rural kentucky are one on medicaid senator mcconnell wants to cut that those are like programs and as a mother, i always want to protect children and protect healthcare for people. Additional response. Speaking of healthcare, what you want to gain for was a singlepayer system that means the government isin charge of your healthcare. And then she waffles a little bit and said a public option. Theres not a dimes worth of difference. You put all our healthcare in the hands of the government, think about it this way. If you went down to the department of Motor Vehicles and asked them to build you a corvette, you think it would work out for cyou well western mark thats what were talking about here. You dont want the federal government to be entirely in mecharge of looking for testin , vaccines, treatments and the long lines that will come as a result s of the government takingover. Thats where they want to go. They doesnt go far enough, to they want to go the whole way and put all our healthcare in the hands of the government. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. Im not sure what the senator talks about when he talks about they area i can tell you where i stand and that i ran the primary and if you my opponents work for the medicare for all system clearly we need to fix care in this country. We have 300,000 kentuckians that still dont have healthcare in the middle of a pandemic. As senator mcconnell said, 30 years ago ran an ad that said it was going to fix healthcare and now hessaying he needs another six years to do it. Seriously . Thats like my eightyearold son saying hey mom, i really am going to take out the trash and i just need another six years. Hes not interested in fixing healthcare. Early voting starts in the commonwealth of kentucky tomorrow for more than 650,000 nkentuckians requested absentee ballot across the country. There are questions over mailinvoting and the potential for fraud. Are you concernedabout the integrity of this Lieutenant Colonel. I think that we have here in kentucky, we have the democratic governor r who came together with a republican secretary of state and came up with a very good plan for everybody to vote. And its wonderful. Theyactually came together and negotiated. Isnt that amazing mark i wish we could do that at the federal level but i think that kentucky has never made it easier to vote this year and thats incredible really early voting starts tomorrow. I am very concerned about the u. S. Postal service. The Postal Service is such an important service. It provides Prescription Medication to our seniors, to our veterans, particularly in rural areas and it needs to be helped through this coronavirus and im afraid senator mcconnell hasnt done enough for that and i would be holding our Postal Service because if you can hand out 500 billion in plus one for corporations be able to turn around and help everyday people and one of the ways is to help ourPostal Service. Senator mcconnell, your response. Likes to mention how long ive been in the senate, she doesnt seem to be troubled by the fact that joe biden has been in washington 47 years. Under her proposal to limit terms joe biden would have been leaving the senate at the time i got there. So im amused by her advocacy for a position on term limits would have eliminated joe bidens career before i even got to the senate. Look, the question is can be effective for kentucky . There are four congressional leaders. Imthe only one not from new york or california. Allowed kentucky to punch above its weight. What does it mean to kentucky over the lastterm, my last term , 17. 5 billion dollars for the commonwealth that would not have been there had i not been the majority leader of thesenate. I give kentucky and an opportunity to punch above its weight on National Issues and to bring home things for the state that would not otherwise get. Iq and a rebuttal from Lieutenant Colonel mcgrath. Senator mcconnell wants to talk about kentucky punching above its weight. We feel like weve been sucker punched. We have the highest cancer rates in the country, highest rates of diabetes, lowest wages in the country. Our economy hasnt been this bad n since the great depression. Its just unbelievable and senator mcconnell would love to talk about term limits. I would love to talk about it because President Trump is four congressional term limits, its top on his agenda and i agree , we should get them right now. Senator mcconnell. Lets take opioids for example. 275 million i directly brought into kentucky for the opioid fight , 87 million of that was the largest grant the university of kentucky had ever gotten. All that was the outgrowth of two bipartisan bills passed one of them back during the last two years of president obama that i negotiated with him called the 21st century tours act. Then the cares act later and in all of that i was deeply involved in negotiating that produced Extraordinary Results for the commonwealth. Meanwhile you want to take away healthcare and Medicaid Expansion which covers 50 percent of kentuckys, kentuckians who are addicted and getting them the treatment they need. Itsjust ridiculous. Ill give you two seconds senator if you want to respond. That was a little bit out of order in and time. No. Youre watching the kentucky debate. We are here with a republican and ckdemocratic candidates for the u. S. Senate in kentucky, majority leader Mitch Mcconnell and retired Lieutenant Colonel amy mcgrath and we are going through a series of questions and they are answering those tonight for our audience watching across kentucky and really around the country. The death of Breonna Taylor spark more than 100 nights of protests in louisville, questions about what happened are on the minds of many of kentuckys college as we found out and one uk student asked you think justice was done, senator mcconnell . I have great tolerance for peaceful demonstrations. They are protected constitutional rights. I dont have much tolerance for violence and looting. For example in portland last night they went on a rampage again and tore down a statue of Teddy Roosevelt and abraham lincoln. With regard to the taylor case, the law sometimes as judge barrett pointed outin her hearing this morning , the result that we all hope for. This is an incredible tragedy. T botched job, a terrible outcome but Law Enforcement has to apply the law and theyre doing the best they can. I dont have any advice to give them but i think in terms of justice in america, we have to follow the laws that were written. Im a strong supporter of Law Enforcement. I enjoy the support of police in kentucky. I dont think its appropriate to condemn all Police Officers. Some of them are bad but its not appropriate to defund the police or demonize a Police Officer in general. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. First of all, as somebody who wore the uniform, did three combat tours protecting our country and the mother of three small children i have to say that i never for looting or rioting or destruction of property or violence in any way. And i do not want to defund the police. That all said, the tragedy with Breonna Taylor was an absolute tragedy and i think leaders have to take a step back and recognize that we need change in this country. That there is systemic racism, that we have to tackle issues of equity and equality. I have a plan to do that, its called equality for all and we put it together not jjust with me but with leaders all around kentucky. Thats what youre supposed to do as a leader totackle these issues. Senator mcconnell is not interested in that. The George Floyd Justice in policing act is sitting on his desk as is the john lewis Voting Rights act , sitting on his desk. I could go on and on. Could we move on to this issue of Police Reform . Its taylors death and other cases like george floyd in minnesota have Many Americans demanding Police Reform and changes in some way. Some going as far as asking for as you both pointed out the defunding of Police Departments. You gone onderecord against that. What reforms do you think should happen within Police Departments ppthat should be led on a National Level . Lieutenant colonel mcgrath. I think we should provide on a National Level body cameras to all police. I think thats important. We have the technology to do that. There should be a National Database for Police Officers that in other words if you get dismissed, one Police Department you dont get to go into another one without people knowing your record and i always talk about the fact that you dont get kicked out of the u. S. Army and get to roll into the u. S. Navy. These are common sense reforms that we need to do. In addition to battling no not search warrants at the federal level for federal drug cases. These are all things we can do and its just to me, i think it comes down to lets get our senate back again so that we can actually debate these things. The George Floyd Justice in policing act, senator mcconnell wouldnt even allow debate on it. We can make change in this countryand we have to. Senator mcconnell. Theres a role for the federal government. Ive been on the floor of the senate the justice act which was drafted largely by tim scott by republican colleague , and africanamerican himself whos experienced the elkind of extra suspicion that africanamericans are frequently given. He crafted a bill that we thought made a lot of sense. I put it on the floor of the senate. We couldnt get a single democrat to even let us take it up and debated. An amended area so your was another example of how democrats and the congress, the last few months have not wanted anything to succeed. Theyve been slow walking everythingthat comes up either by the house , putting up a totally outrageous proposals or Senate Democrats slow walking efforts to get an outcome. So i think whats happened here which is not uncommon is in proximity to the election, our democratic friends just simply dont want anything to occur gets an actual outcome ofpresident ial signature. Lieutenant colonel, a bottle. Your hearing it all night long. More excuses. Hes not just a member of the senate. Hes the Senate Majority leader. He still cant get it done. We know we need reforms. And i also want to work on not just criminal Justice Reform but there are real inequities in this country. We had 20 billion gap that we majority white schools and nonwhites will doin this country. We have in kentucky 2 and a half times the rate of black kentuckians are dying at 2 and a half times the rate of white kentuckians. Fix the things. We got to be serious about. I grab you brought up the fact that i majority leader. If she goes to washington, first boat shall cast in the senate is Chuck Schumer from new york the majority leader. Transferring the power that kentucky has now because im one of the four leaders not from new york orcalifornia. New york ripped further, the grading kentuckys influence in washington, making it less likely kentucky gets preferential treatment like it frequently does as a result of my being in the position im in the area thats what voting for her means. We have to majority leader title away from kentucky and getting it to new york. We here in kentucky know better. Enter mcconnell wants to talk about his clout and power. Meanwhile the copays are a. The price of Prescription Medication has gone up. The price of insurance has gone up. Are people with preexisting conditions are about ready to be thrown off theirhealthcare right now. We have the worst economy since the great depression. The worst job losses since thegreat recession. We have the highest cancer rates in the country,highest rates of diabetes. Senator mcconnells product clout is literally killing us in kentucky. Additionalresponse. I use my clout to help our state, take coal for example, barack obama destroyed the coal industry, completely destroyed it. So im dealing with the Collateral Damage. Ask cesar roberts, head of the United Mine Workers area i produced both guaranteed Healthcare Benefits and pension benefits from coal miners and delivering retraining dollars so they can get new jobs to be employed once again. Thats how i used the clout i have to help kentucky. Going to try to get an additional question in here before we are through funding for Higher Education has consistently been reduced. Here in kentucky especially, its place a higher burden on students and their families and currently the federal government owns 92 percent of all Student Loans so with tuition increasing, Student Loan Debt nothing, how can colleges make college more accessible and more geaffordable . We begin this time with senator mcconnell. I started by reducing, by creating a program at the university of louisville for undergraduate scholars at no cost to the government. Therefore the best and brightest kids there at any given time i, impressment, 10 juniors, 10seniors. The goal is for them to get up, an ivy league type education right here in kentucky and hope that the state here and most of them half. Lets take care that for example, out of the care zach is almost hundred 75 million for Kentucky Education , k12 and colleges and universities in addition to that , uk, i produce over 300 million or uk, 200 million for of m, 75 million Western Kentucky University. I paid a lot of attention to trying to help kentucky Higher Education at the other end of the scale, the Southeast Community and Technical College im going to be down there tomorrow. They were literally about to go out of business and i intervene with the secretary of education and save them going out of business. Lieutenant colonel. In the last 15 years, college debt has gone up about 540 percent. Here in kentucky we have some of the highest n levels of college debt in thecountry. The first thing and all of that happened bythe way on his watch. The first thing i would do is hold that the divorce accountable because we have a og program already in place to relieve people of their college debt 99 percent of the africans are denied so i would be jumping up and down in the senate right now finding out what is that, why do we have a programfor 99 percent of the applicants are denied. Other things that we need. We need things like universal prek. Maybe its because im the only mom appear but if we had more moms in the senate we have universal prek yesterday. There is one 2 billion or kentucky schools sitting on his desk right now. Its been sitting there for six months. Hes not interested in helping schools and public education. Unless theres a need to respond will move on. In 2018 a dozen of the top 50 poorest counties in the United States were in Eastern Kentucky. And a uk student is acting and heres the cold question, how will you address the lawsuits left behind from the dwindling coal industry in a way that builds more sustainable and Healthy Communities and we begin with Lieutenant Colonel the graph. Recognize that six years ago senator mcconnell sat here and said you got to vote for me. All your coal jobs are going to come back. In while in the last six years weve lost 60 percent of coal jobs. These youth you and our state for two bigger with the other side. And he has a plan for the future. Tu coal powered this country. I want to go to the senate to make sure that our cold communities get whats owed back to them for powering this country and that Means Investment in the future. It Means Investment in infrastructure like broadband and cell phone coverage because no business was going to want to come to a county in kentucky that cannot talk to the modern world. It Means Investment in education and health care and those are the types of things we have to do to rebuild for an economy of the future. And we have to. Senator mcconnell had done it. These let the coal industry guy with no plan for the last 36 years and look at where we areright now. Look at where we are. Kentuckians are not confused 3about who wants the war unfold. But the beginning of the Obama Administration, 50 percent of electricity in america was supplied by coalfired generation read at the end of the Obama Administration , 30 percent. Country and particularly in Eastern Kentucky. We were then left to clean up the mess. The Collateral Damage from the war unfold. And so i did in short, Healthcare Benefits and pension benefits for coal miners so they didnt lose what was almost wiped out by the administration. And retraining so they could get another job. Unfortunately some of them have had to leave the area to do it. They love Eastern Kentucky so much a drive all the way up to the toyota plant every day in order to attend their new jobs. Thats why were in the situation we are in Eastern Kentucky. And theres no mistake about who caused it. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath, 30 seconds. Ive always taught that to be honest with people in the marine corps. The decline ofcoal is a function of , is a function of renewable energy, its a function of automation, its a function of fracking which frankly senator mcconnell pushed for. But the real thing is weve got to have a plan for the future. And right now, the reclaim act is sitting on senator mcconnells desk, this is an act as bipartisan, but by how wonders and would get 100 million to clean up kentucky and the people withgood quality union jobs to do that. The environmental hazards we seen from the industry here. And thats also introduced in the senate by senator joe mansion. Why is it sitting on the final steps . Lagasse what is that plan . What is the plan you got to produce jobs in Eastern Kentucky, laid out for us right now. All right, what the reclaim would do is it would provide 100 million to clean up the environmental hazards weve seen from the coal industry for many years and allow people to clean up the environmental hazards with good quality jobs in the transition to the defuture and the transition to the future as got to include infrastructure area we badly need it. We have Water Systems in Martin County that dont have clean water area we have sewer systems in Anderson County need to be fixed and we have to get into the 21st century. I know youve been in washington dc for 36 years but i served around the world and no business is going to want to come to a county in kentucky cannot talk to the modern globalized world. Everything shestalking about has already been done. Tell it to Eastern Kentucky. She talks about the marines every other second area i think her entire campaign is shes a marine, shes a mom and ive been there too long. What we need to see or specifically what she has in mind to fix the issues that she thinks need fixing and i can tellyou what she had in mind. Shes going to go to washington, shes going to make Chuck Schumer the majority leader. Senator, youve been there for 36 years, i was looking kentucky, and we fixed this stuff . What 36 years has produced in the last term alone, 17. 5 billion for kentucky. It would not have had a had she been there on the back bench. Having made Chuck Schumer from new york the majority leader. Heres a very specific question, kentucky like many other states as a real problem drug addiction. We know that and recent data shows it has increased since the pandemic thstarted area how do we turn the tide on this horrible opioid crisis. Weve made lasting reference to that earlier but lets get a more detailed response editor mcconnell area begin with you. Thats a good question. Its been a devastating issue. Not just for us but around the world. Around the country. And what ive done is the 21st century cures in the last two years of barack obama. The cares that after that produced a total of 275 Million Dollars for kentucky. In 275 million was the single largest grant in uk history. 87 million, the single biggest grant they forgot. In addition to that, they are these Law Enforcement areas called high intensity Drug Trafficking areas. Ive gotten a number of those for kentucky so that roughly half of our state is covered by this combination of Law Enforcement and social workers working together to go after these very very intense afDrug Trafficking areas. So we are still fighting the battle. Its not over yet but my clout has made a huge difference in providing funds for kentucky. On this bigproblem. Lieutenantcolonel mcgrath. Senator mcconnells clout has allowed billions of Prescription Medication pills to flood into kentucky. The first thing that we need to do is hold big pharma accountable to that. Hes in is incapable of doing that. Hes incapable of doing it because he gets themost money from big pharma at any other member of congress. Thats why. Hes basically bought off. But what we need in addition is more resources for treatment and prevention area included making sure that we dont take away the Affordable Care act. Because what senator mcconnell would do was take that away, take away the Medicaid Expansion. Where 50 percent of our fellow kentuckians who are addicted their treatments through medicaid. And he wants to undermine it. I dont. I want to fix the Affordable Care act in a healthcare easier to obtain so that people can get the treatment and prevention then he. Senator mcconnell. Resonate extra. I was along with that comment. We will do that. Do you then have heard a few extra seconds here for a closing statement. That you might want to make and in this final moment tonight , instead of the traditional beach at the end we thought we would head to our closing statement with this question. Senator mcconnell often say and have had said here tonight that your leadership position and seniority pay big dividends for kentucky. Lieutenant colonel, you have term the senators 36 years in washington against him with much of what you said tonight that he is out of touch with kentucky. And out of ideas. Who is right. And we begin with Lieutenant Colonel the graph area. Look, i dont think this race is about Mitch Mcconnell and i dont think its about amy mcgrath. I think its about kentucky area kentucky deserves a senator who tusees you. Who listens to you and who will serve you. I joined the marines a long time ago. To serve my country, to make a difference in my country. Every single combat mission i did weather no matter how high i flew, no matter where i was in afghanistan or iraq i never forgot we sent me there. I never forgot who it was i was serving. Senator mcconnell stopped serving you a long time ago. I took an oath six times in my life. To defend the constitution of this country. To defend our country. And to build a better america for American Families and for my family. For my three young kids, george and eleanor. I want to do the same. I want to be your senator because you deserve better. I ask for your vote. I want to remind everybody that early voting starts tomorrow. This is the most important election of our lifetime. It would be my privilege to serve you. Thank you. Senator mcconnell. Thanks for the opportunity to be here. I assume hes not bothered by the fact joe biden has been in washington 47 years, he been there 12 years before i got there. I think its important not to be confused about what this election is about. Number one, if my opponent replaces me, her first vote in the senate will be to make Chuck Schumer from new york majority leader of the Senate Setting the agenda for the senate which will include changing the rules of the na senate to make it easier for liberals to win. Then theyll make the ultimate swap, the district of columbia estate giving influence peddlers and lobbyists to senators just like kentucky. Then theyll do that for puerto rico as well. Thats for new liberal Democratic Senators in perpetuity to guarantee they can get their outcome. And then the reason joe biden wont say whether or not hes going to pack the Supreme Court is because he is. Thats exactly what they intend to do. So that the courts dont get in the way of any of their leftwing proposals. She will be a part of all of that. She will enable all of that. The single biggest vote you cast in the senate is the first vote. Who is going to determine the agenda. She will make Chuck Schumer agenda setter area. This is 20 20 so surprised, we have 30 seconds left for each of you and i want to give Lieutenant Colonel mcgrath an additional 30 seconds. I would simply say to my fellow americans, all that you just heard, hows that working out for you right now . How is kentucky looking . Are you better off than you were six years ago . 86 years ago . We have the leader of a senate right now that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a National Crisis he cant get things done for kentucky area did you want more of anthat was denmark i dont. I want change. I know our country is better than this. Is not obligated, do you want somebody from new york to be setting the agenda for america and not terribly interested in kentucky or do you want to continue to have one of the four congressional leaders from our state looking out for kentucky, getting kentucky an opportunity to punch above its weight, providing extra assistance for kentucky . Thats the question. She will transfer all of that to new york. I will keep it in kentucky. Thats our time. Candidates, we appreciate you being here tonight and everybody getting a chance to hear from you this evening and would like to thank our sponsors, Great Television and the university of kentucky Student Government association. Early voting begins tomorrow. That election is tuesday, november 3. The polls will be open 6 am to 6 pm. Be sure to vote. You for joining us and havea good today joe biden speaks in Pembroke Pines florida on his campaigns policy proposals affecting senior citizens. Watch live on cspan2, online at cspan. Org or listen live on the freecspan radio app. Today a debate between the candidates running for West Virginia governor. Incumbent governor jim justice and democrat governor ben sligo anticipate in a televiseddebate. Live coverage at 7 pm eastern on cspan2. We are back with david el steiner who is a global fellow at the Wilson Center and author of rate america, russia and 100 years of covert electoral interference and hes here todiscuss his book on the history of russias electoral interference. David, good morning. Thank you for having me, and excited to be here. What prompted you to write this book . I was alarmed when after 2016 so many commentators, so many analysts treated russian interference in the election as him how unprecedented because to me when somethings unprecedented that suggest that there is no history behind. That suggests it easy to create minutes
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