Welcome to the Virginia Senate similar mark warner and republican candidate, and you might be possible for the Northern Virginia chamber of congress, and nbc board report. Streaming on nbc washington. Com a few things are a bit different because of the pandemic and myself are all in separate locations, as you can see the audience, and said they are joining us virtually via zoom thanks to the Northern Virginia numbers. Provide an opportunity and on issues important to virginia voters the most pervasive in the last one hour and begin with one and a half minutes opening. From each candidate in our panels and i will post listen to the candidates, these questions determined by nbc news and the palace if not reviewed by the candidates or any debate partners. Each candidate will have one minute to respond in a candidate answering first will get an additional 32nd rebuttal. As moderator, i reserve the right to follow up as needed. Then we will conclude with one minute closing statement. This time keeper notifying each candidate has exploded we have candidates with limits, our panel is. During gilchrist. She is very and reporter alber alberto, all joining us on nbc studios in washington. Now the candidate both in virginia and democratic incumbent, senator mark warner. I use those skills in tough by partisan policy areas by formulated Wounded Warrior programs in the white house during a time in when congress and the white house were in different hands. And serving on a bipartisan National Council and disabilities, shaping policies that help the most disadvantaged members of our society. These are not left versus right issues. They are american issues. And outside campaigned around the commonwealth for the past 50 months ive consistently heard the same old same ideas hardworking for virginians. We face tough challenges right now and it will take a true commitment to working across the aisle with people on the other side to follow them. Recovering and economy in fixing our health care after covid shouldnt be a partisan idea. We all read the same air and drink the same water and the veteran suicide crisis has gotten worse, not better under the same old people, the same old ideas and the contrast between me and mark couldnt be more clear. Im a career server and with a mortgage and the everyday worries of middleclass life. Mark is a career partisans partisan who made millions off of political handouts and cynically talks about reducing influence prices for diabetic children while taking threequarters of a Million Dollars from big pharma and campaign contributions. If you are sick of career politicians lets choose a different path. Senator warner your opening statement. Warner thank you to the Virginia Chamber. I want to start by giving a shoutout to all the frontline workers especially our postal workers. I know today we are going to be sharing our differences but i do want to start by thanking mr. Mr. Gade Forest Service and a sacrifice i think we all know virginiana country are in challenging times. Ive 25 years in business here in virginia creating jobs. I then went to Public Service because i wanted to get stuff done and that means you have to work together. As governor for jan is the best managed state in the best state for business but as your senator up to proud add 55 in my field laws that cut red tape for Small Businesses, laws and improve our ship the link businesses and improves the quality of medicare and just last month the president signed by legislation that made the largest investment in our National Park service and helped create will help create 10,000 jobs here in virginia. Right now we know what they have got to do is save lives and get the economy started again and that means dealing with the coronavirus and that will require following defiance but the truth is even before the pandemic our economy was changing. We need leaders who understand that every virginian ought to have a fair shot in our tech driven economy. And that has been my focus my entire career. Its been the honor of my life to serve virginia and i hope to earn your vote again. Thank you. I want to begin on the topic of a Supreme CourtJustice Ruth Bader ginsburg step in what happens to receive and when. Dr. Sim sanika bevers question but explain the justification them pushing forward the election President Trump said when you have the senate and when you have the votes you can sort of do what you want as long as you have it. Doctors gade do you agree that statement you think the senate should proceed . I been a servant of the constitution for the past 25 years in the army and later as a political appointee in the Trump Administration and heres what i say about that. In 2016 i think the senate aired and not bringing Merrick Garland to an upordown vote because as as the president s authority in the senates responsibility to appoint and then neither confirm or to confute refused to confirm an and appointee. I agree with the 2016 mark mark tell us call bat flip mark icas the mark set do your job give him an upordown vote and i think they should have done that in 2016. The president s authority to appoint and the senates responsibility to either confirm or not confirm and appointee does not expire around the time of the election and its time for the senate to do their job and its time that the president appoint somebody is time for the senate to take a vote and lets do our constitutional responsibility. In this case the flip mark says thats a bad idea so is there going to be flip or flop . Moderator senator warner which president is incorrect from republicans the one in 2016 are the one they are doing now . Warner lets take a moment and reflect on the legacy of Justice Ginsburg. She was a great jurist. I have got 3 daughters in their 20s prevailed lived in a more open and just america because of Justice Ginsburg and i greet with mr. Gade i wish the senate had taken up Merrick Garland in 2016 but the rules changed. Mitch mcconnell said we wont do that. I think particularly now when virginians are already voting we ought to wait and let americans have their votes counted before we decide who becomes the next Supreme Court justice. The next Supreme Court justice is going to deal with incredibly important things. One of the first issues they will take up two weeks after the election is the viability of the Affordable Care act, something my opponent has criticized me for predicting the aca needs to same place because the only law that protects people with preexisting conditions as the aca. 20 million americans have health care, aca. Born a thousand virginians with Medicaid Expansion, aca. That is at stake along with a host of other issues. Moderator thank you senator. Doctors gade. Gaetz what do you sears a contrast. Career politicians wanted it both ways and by the way republican career politicians want to have it both ways and thats a good critique of the 2016 senate versus the 2020 senate and in that i agree with mark but what i dont agree with mark on as the rules once someone is bent the rules that its okay to continue to bend the rules. Fact we have our responsibility to fulfill our Constitutional Responsibilities that means we have to confirm or refused to confirm whatever Supreme Court justice the president puts up and hes right the Supreme Court is critically important and in a dangerous event of a contested election work goes to the Supreme Court as it did in 2000 we cant afford to have a 44 Supreme Court. Moderator i want to turn to the topic of why we are conducting this debate and mostly not in person. The coronavirus that killed 200,000 americans including more than 3000 in the state of virginia. In employment rate and state is gone from 3. 3 in march to 6. 1 today. What more should the federal government in the u. S. Senate be doing to fight the virus and help virginia senator warner you get the first response. Chuck their marker will thing about coronavirus as it didnt have to be this way but i reached out to the Trump Administration in january before there was a single case in virginia saying you need more resources. Instead i think we have seen an epic failure from this white house. We are seven months in and we have a national we still have a testing plan a plan of ppe and on this issue my opponent and i could not be more different. My opponent calls wearing a mask is a sign of tyranny but i think its a sign of respect. He said, and thats coronavirus is more no more than the common flu. He said Donald Trumps done a good job of managing the coronavirus. I disagree. I was there when secretary mnuchin put in place the first covidrelated package help for Small Business and help for unemployment, additional assistance for hospitals and our health care system. As a matter fact what we should be doing right now is not rushing the Supreme Court decision to the congress. Mitch mcconnell should ring up the house passed bill so that we can get additional assistance for Small Businesses so that schools can reopen safely so they can actually start making the investments in broadband we need to have so that we dont have this kind of a crazy zoo driven economy. Moderator senator dr. Gade your one minute. Gaetz this is a onetime onceinalifetime pandemic. 200,000 americans are dead in and our economy is totally disrupted and i agree with that. Tens of thousands of jobs right here in virginia are gone forever in this matter fact my opponent says i dont wear a mask and as a matter of fact he sent out a mailer saying i dont wear a mask and by colin tierney. Hes wrong about that. Ive got my mask right here. Camouflage to honor my 25 years of military service but americans have a right to be angry right now. Attorneys come his party did the pandemic. Politicians have profited on their knowledge of what was coming before citizens knew and other politicians delayed needed relief. And that im pointing directly at you senator warner because you voted against 105 million to reopen the schools, 258 billion for a second round of the protection through the paycheck Protection Plan and 31 billion for Covid Vaccine and 16 billion for testing. You can have it both ways cant say this is important and then vote against the needs of virginia citizens. Moderator senator warner, 30 seconds. Warner im proud of the record. I worked with republicans in the march covered really package produces significant investment in the history of our country 2. 7 trillion. Youre right it didnt vote for recent plan that would have allowed her cities and counties to go bankrupt. I dont think it makes any sense to go ahead and fire teachers cops and firefighters in the middle of a pandemic. We should get a deal. We need relief and one of the areas where my opponent and i dramatically disagree and he can say wearing a mask is tierney he said Donald Trumps done a great job of managing coronavirus. It was donald trump who did not tell the American Public the truth about the virus. Moderator first you senator warner what. Would you give the president is handling of the virus very quickly . Warner i would give the president failing. Because many additional relief families to follow science. Moderator dr. Gave what. Would you give the president. I would give our country overall a b or c for thats about the right and accurate. Moderator Aaron Gilchrest has the next question. Since the pandemic hit senator warner has held events with mastering india but attended in Person Campaign events with little social distancing and mask wearing in different parts of the state. Why do you consider your approach as they play together and campaign . Gade gade what we have done im very proud of but i consider campaign to be a Job Interview in my responsibility as i go around the commonwealth is to interview for this job. I have to meet the folks where they are. When we do events inside we do mouse were sometimes we do temperature checks where its appropriate and when we do events outside we spread apart and we stay apart from each other and we do the things in the socially distance the way. The end of the day coronavirus is going to be with us for very long time and what we can do is give in to fear. What we have to do is protect people who are vulnerable. By the way we need to get our economy back to work which is why would a vastly voted for the most recent coronavirus we felt which would have gotten schools back to work provided money fore given money for the paycheck Protection Plan and thats something that mark warner voted against perdoma in washington d. C. Is not getting everything you want justification for giving nothing to your constituents. Moderator senator warner one minute. 200,000 americans are dead. The president has misled the American Public in terms of the seriousness of the virus. My opponent, its all recorded, says coronavirus is little more than the flu. He praised the president for his leadership. I think the only way we are going to get our economy reopened and i point out the president selectively one of the few democrats to be on his economy reopened task force because he knew i have that business experience with the only way we are going to get the economy reopened as if we follow the signs, follow dr. Fauci and i actually believe wearing this mask is a sign of respect for the people i come in contact with and yet that is the way we practice our campaigning following the science. I very much believe we need another package. As a matter fact what my point is suggesting the republican plan didnt get me all the republican votes. Its one third of what the Trump Administration the Trump Administration proposed propose. Lets get real. Lets do a real plan that will help get the assistance to reopen her school to make sure our state and local governments succeed but that will require bipartisan efforts as same as we did in march of this year when he put the cares package together. Moderator dr. Gade 30 seconds. Gade he keeps coming back to this idea that bailing them out is good. If you Pay Attention all you know the chicago and new york and cities up and down california have been failing for decades because they made promises to their retirees and promises to their Public Sector units that they cant possibly keep that the idea of sending her gender tax dollars to bail out ailing state and local governments around the country because they have now made an excuse on this is a terrible mistake in a failure Public Policy that goes back 40 or 50 years and the same all politicians are not going to solve this by giving them a bailout on our National Credit card. Moderator julie kerry is the next question. Sara senator warners an entrepreneur you brought new technologies americans handed you begin to build their political profile you helped expand broadband to thousands of virginias many in rural areas and thats something often highlight as part of the record but the pandemic has exposed just how many Virginia School kids and their families are still without broadband access. You estimate as many of the 700,000 people. Youve been in the senate since 2009. Why would hear unique expertise havent even able to do more to close the Digital Divide . Julie thank you for that question but i do want to correct one thing about mr. Gade needs to do a little more homework. We are proud of something ive done as governor and proud our state and local governments are physically wellmanaged and i think its wrong to cut off assistance to them and have cops firefighters and teachers laid off during a pandemic. The difference of a position on that issue. He put them millions of dollars and broadband a lot of that coming after the 2008 a crisis i think we should do more work but i think we need to go ahead and provide ubiquitous highspeed broadband across the whole country and make the same commitment that Franklin Roosevelt made in the 1930s with electrification. We can do that now. There are things we should do during the pandemic where we allow Internet Service providers to turn up the power so theres additional relief provided in honestly i think we will be bold and say to our social Media Companies facebook, google and amazon maybe you ought to be chipping in for those underserved americans. Broadband in 2020 is an economic necessity not a nicety. Moderator dr. Gade one minute. You may have to check senator warners earpiece because clearly i said something about chicago and new york and california so you might want to check his earpiece. The question was about 5g. Im sorry about broadband. The question is about access and the federal government does everall here but i would say not similar to the Rural Electrification of the 1930s of the highway system built during the eisenhower commiseration interstate highway system. Very similar palms and very similar solution. We need t