virginia governor debate transcript
TRANSCRIPT
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NBC NEWS WASHINGTON
"VIRGINIA GOVERNOR DEBATE"
INTERVIEW WITH TERRY MCAULIFFE & KEN CUCCINELLI
CORRESPONDENT: CHUCK TODD
PRODUCER: EDE JERMIN
MEDIA ID: LIVE FEED
19:00:00:00 (OFF-MIC CONVERSATION)
CHUCK TODD:
19:02:39:00 Mr. McAuliffe, by virtue of an earlier coin toss,
you will go first with your two minute opening
statement. Go ahead.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:02:45:00 Well, thank you, Chuck. And thank you to the
Fairfax Chamber for hostin' us tonight and to all
Virginians, who are watching at home. And I
would like to recognize my wife Dorothy who is
here with me tonight. For the last two decades,
we have been raising our five children here in
Fairfax County. The choice in this race is
simple, which candidate is going to govern from
the mainstream, work with both parties, and focus
on those economic issues that Virginians are
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concerned about.
19:03:13:00 During this campaign, I have proposed commonsense
solutions on issues of education, transportation,
and workforce development. I've also been proud
to earn the support of so many prominent
Republicans, many of whom have never supported a
Democrat before. The bipartisan coalition that
we have assembled during this campaign reflects
the approach that I would take as governor,
following in the successful model of Mark Warner.
19:03:41:00 Just a few weeks ago, my opponent changed his
campaign staff and his tactics. Probably because
he was concerned that a number of Republicans
were no longer supporting his campaign. The
result has been a sharp increase in the most
personal of attacks. They've been called
deceitful and false by the press.
19:04:00:00 So I expect more of those kinds of attacks
tonight. But what Virginians do expect from us
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is to hear how we are going to bring folks
together in Richmond. With the Department of
Defense drawing down its overall spending and now
with the sequestration, the next governor will
face serious economic headwinds. We cannot
afford the next four years in Richmond to be like
the last four in Washington.
19:04:26:00 Gridlock, driven by the Tea Party, is once again
risking a government shutdown that would be
devastating to the Virginia economy. In
Virginia, we have a strong record of working
together, Democrats and Republicans. And with
the challenges that lie ahead, we must embrace
the tradition of mainstream solutions. We need
those solutions now more than ever.
CHUCK TODD:
19:04:50:00 Thank you.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:04:51:00 And that is what I look forward to talking with
you tonight.
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CHUCK TODD:
19:04:53:00 Thank-- thank you, Mr. McAuliffe. Mr.
Cuccinelli, your opening statement.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:04:56:00 Well, I want to thank the Chamber and NBC 4 for
hosting us today, Chuck and the panel for their
participation, and Terry for being here, as well.
It's nice to be right near in the backyard of
where I grew up. I'm the only candidate in this
race with a lifetime of fighting for Virginians,
whether it's preventing sexual assault, helping
the homeless, or working to help those suffering
from mental illness, a passion of mine for more
than a decade and a half.
19:05:23:00 I've also served in state government for over 10
years. And I know how it works. I'm the only
candidate in this race who won't need on-the-job
training if you elect me your governor this year.
In this campaign, my opponent has spent a lot of
time telling you why you shouldn't vote for me
for governor, but not much time welling-- telling
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you why you should vote for him.
19:05:44:00 You may not always agree with me in this race,
but you'll always know where I stand and why I
hold the positions that I do. When it comes to
economic competitiveness, job creation, and
higher education, I know we can all work together
to make Virginia a better place to live with
lasting results. But it takes a governor who
will fight for those issues and not for their own
self-interest.
19:06:09:00 Where does my fight come from? Well, my Italian
grandfather didn't have more than a sixth grade
education. He was one of the toughest, hardest-
working folks I've ever known, whether it was as
a welder or in a scrapyard where he worked for
years, or as a bare knuckle boxer during The
Depression, probably his toughest job of all. He
was proud to work to support his family.
19:06:31:00 And today, ordinary folks all over Virginia, like
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my grandfather, want nothing more than to share
in the dignity of work. And I have a plan
that'll create 58,000 new jobs here in Virginia.
Creating jobs, fighting for the middleclass, and
fighting for a good education in our children are
priorities of my campaign and will be for my
governorship. I've proposed detailed policy
ideas for each. And I'll begin on day one
fighting to put those ideas into action--
CHUCK TODD:
19:06:59:00 All right.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:06:59:00 --if you'll elect me on November 5th.
CHUCK TODD:
19:07:01:00 All right, you guys were pretty good there. Only
about five seconds over for both of you. (LAUGH)
I'm pleading, we're all pleading with you
tonight, that that was your talking points and--
and-- and hit us-- and-- and try to answer our
questions. So let me begin. It's gonna be a
similar question to both of you. But Mr.
McAuliffe, you get the first question.
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19:07:17:00 Nearly $20 million's been spent on TV ads in this
race. 75% of 'em, we did the calculation, have
been negative. This is both of you. I want each
of you to respond to the stereotype you've been
tryin' to create-- about the other. Mr.
McAuliffe, the stereotype of you is that you're
an operator, cheerleader more than a legislator
or governor. That you don't have the relevant
experience to be governor. And that you're a man
in a hurry, who's willing to use political
connections, sometimes in very high places, to
take shortcuts. Your response?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:07:48:00 I'm a young man who grew up in-- Syracuse, New
York. I started my first business when I was 14
years old, 'cause I had to help pay for college.
I've been involved in a number of businesses
since that time, chairman of a bank by the age of
30, built thousands of homes. I've been involved
in a wide variety of different businesses. I
want to bring that business approach, that
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business experience. I think it's important to
have someone in the governor's office who has
those business experience, understands the ups
and downs of businesses, understands that risk is
inherent in our economy, and is willing to put
everything in to make sure we grow and diversify
our economy.
19:08:25:00 With sequestration, with the budget cuts that we
have seen in the Department of Defense, with $500
billion, the stimulus is over, the next
governor's real challenge is how do you grow and
diversify our businesses? How do we create new
economic activity? Dorothy and I would love to
have our five children stay in Virginia. But in
order to stay in Virginia, we need to have those
jobs of the 21st century, cyber security,
nanotechnology, bio life sciences. Those are
what we need to do to grow our economy.
19:08:53:00 Now we have had a lot of different ads. And
there are differences between the two of us. My
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opponent has spent most of his career on a social
ideological agenda. He has-- pushed personhood
legislation which would outlaw most forms of
contraception, would make the pill illegal in
Virginia. He bullied the Board of Health that
would shut down the woman's health centers.
Women are 50% of the workforce of the United
States of America. You cannot grow an economy by
putting walls up around Virgin--
CHUCK TODD:
19:09:19:00 I'm gonna stop you there. Mr. Cuccinelli, you
have 90 seconds to respond.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:09:22:00 Thank you. (THROAT CLEARS) Well, in this race--
of course, we've got our ads on television. I'd
point you to the kinds of ads we've been running.
Right now you all can see running the ad-- about
a case that I'm very proud of. One about Thomas
Haynesworth. Thomas Haynesworth holds the record
in Virginia for serving more time in prison while
innocent than anyone in the history of the
Commonwealth.
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19:09:47:00 And he's out today on a 6-4 vote of our Court of
Appeals, because I took that case and joined his
side. And we won 6-4, 5-5 is a loss. You know,
that's the kind of story we're tryin' to tell,
Chuck, in this race. That's a story I'm very
proud of. I think there are reasons not to vote
for Mr. McAuliffe for governor. We make those--
that case as well.
19:10:10:00 But we have a positive record to look back on in
my case. We've done a great job in the Attorney
General's Office, fighting health care fraud,
internet predators. We've worked even with
Capital One, as we sit here on some justice
issues, justice access issues. Those are things
near and dear to my heart. That's where we
focused in this race.
19:10:29:00 I'm the only candidate who's gotten both of the
major business endorsements so far in this race,
from the Northern Virginia Technology Council's
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tech pack. And just this week from Virginia's
small businesses, the N.F.I.B.-- has endorsed me,
as well, with their 5,500 small business members.
They obviously think that my preparation and my
plans for growing the economy here in Virginia is
best not just for them, but to make Virginia a
better place--
CHUCK TODD:
19:10:54:00 All right.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:10:55:00 --to live and raise a family.
CHUCK TODD:
19:10:56:00 Mr. McAuliffe, as you get your-- 60 seconds to
respond-- on here, I want you to deal with this
issue. You-- you one time said to the New York
Times, "I've met all of my business contacts
through politics. It's all interrelated." And
we've looked at it. And a lot of it is political
ties. After all the ethical woes going on right
now in Richmond with the current governor, why
shouldn't that give the voters pause that there's
gonna be some-- ethical, questionable deals with
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too many political figures in your-- in your
life?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:11:22:00 Well, I've spent a lot of part of my life--
volunteerin' in politics. I'm committed,
passionate. As I say, I started my first
business at a very young age, was successful in
business. I want to bring that business
experience. Met a lot-- awful lot of folks. But
listen, I have-- stand by everything that I have
done in my life. I'm very proud of my
accomplishments.
19:11:40:00 As I say, Dorothy and I decided to move to
Virginia about 21 years ago, because we knew this
was the best place that we could raise our
family. But there's a difference when the
attorney general who's in the middle of the Star
Scientific scandal. I mean, the same gentleman
who gave all the gifts to the governor, gave my
opponent $18,000 worth of gifts. Star
Scientific, they owe Virginia about $1.7 million.
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19:12:03:00 And instead of takin' him to court, Ken was bein'
taken to trips to New York City. He was-- got a
$1,500 turkey dinner. I said, "That's a lot of
turkey." And he was (UNINTEL) his house,
(UNINTEL) Mountlake house. We were owed-- the
taxpayers of Virginia were owed that money. And
instead of goin' and collectin' what was our
money, my opponent was actually taking gifts from
this gentleman--
CHUCK TODD:
19:12:23:00 All right.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:12:23:00 --and he was buyin' stock and he wasn't
disclosin' it. That's--
19:12:26:00 (OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
19:12:26:00 We're gonna get-- we're gonna-- we're gonna get
to that. Mr. Cuccinelli, I want to-- go-- a 90-
second question to you. The-- the-- the second
official question here. This-- talk about the
stereotype that's been painted of you. That
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you'll use your governorship to push a social
agenda on abortion, gay rights, even-- on climate
change. That you would be a governor simply for
conservatives. And that you will not-- consider
those who are liberals or moderates in you
governing. Your response to this stereotype--
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:12:50:00 Sure--
CHUCK TODD:
19:12:50:00 --that's been painted?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:12:52:00 I-- I think that one of the best responses to
this is the broad array of support that we're
getting from Democrats, Independents, and
bipartisan groups like the Northern Virginia
Technology Council's Tech PAC up here in Northern
Virginia, the small businesses across Virginia,
and the National Federation of Independent
Businesses, the Farm Bureau, the police.
19:13:09:00 We're getting a broad array of support across
Virginia, because I've put forward well-thought-
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out plans that start with an understanding of how
Virginia government works. And that we can use
those plans forward, because people can look at
my record and see that what I campaign on is what
I pursue.
19:13:28:00 And as attorney general, right here in Fairfax
County, fighting back against overreaching
regulations on a bipartisan basis with the
Fairfax Board, we saved Fairfax County taxpayers
and Virginia taxpayers about $250 million. Look,
I believe-- I have some basic beliefs that are
fundamental to me. But overwhelming proportion
of my time as attorney general has been spent
moving Virginia forward economically and
protecting liberty and our constitution.
19:13:56:00 That's something you can continue to expect from
me as your next governor. You know, the
comparison here is someone who has told the New
York Times, you know, "You help me, I help you.
That's politics," talking about a case where he
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was an unindicted coconspirator in a teamsters
election money laundering case. I mean, if-- if
Terry's elected governor. We're gonna have to
change the state motto from "Sic Semper Tyrannis"
to "Quid Pro Quo." And just today in the
Washington Post, they have an article-- they have
an article about how his higher ed policy changed
on a dime when he got certain support. Some of
them--
CHUCK TODD:
19:14:35:00 All right--
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:14:36:00 --Republican. You know, that kind of trading off
without thinking through the policies in--
particularly in an area that's gonna make
colleges less available to Virginians--
19:14:45:00 (OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
19:14:45:00 Thank you, Mr.-- we had a bit of an error there.
I know that you followed the rules that were--
you followed the time that was on your table
there. But-- yeah, you actually got a little
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more time. So you'll get about 95 seconds-- Mr.
McAuliffe to respond.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:14:56:00 My opponent's been the attorney general. He's
run on jobs and transportation when he runs for
office. He gets into office. And he runs on and
serves with an ideological agenda. Let it be
women's health centers, where he bullied the
Board of Health to shut him down. He sponsored
personhood legislation that would outlaw most
forms of contraception, would make the pill
illegal.
19:15:15:00 He's referred to gay Virginians as "self-
destructive and soulless human beings." He was
one of only three attorney generals when the
Violence Against Women Act was being reauthorized
in the United States Congress. 47 attorney
generals signed a letter, violence against women,
not controversial. He is one of three who
refused to sign it. It has been a pattern.
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19:15:39:00 And as it relates to his attack on gay
Virginians, when he was attorney general, he sent
a letter to every college and university sayin'
they could provide no protections against
discrimination based upon sexual orientation
against professors and students. What happened?
Northrop Grumman, which was about to move their
national headquarters to Virginia, it was between
Maryland and Virginia, obviously the employees
squawked at that.
19:16:04:00 And what happened? Governor Bob McDonald had to
interject himself to stop his attorney general
and save that deal. 300 high payin' jobs were
right up the street from where we are today.
There are consequences to this mean-spirit attack
on women's health, on gay Virginians. If we're
gonna build a new economy in Virginia, we're
gonna do it by bringing everyone together.
CHUCK TODD:
19:16:28:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, as you-- re-- prepare your 60-
second response to Mr. McAuliffe, I was hopin'
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you would also respond to what-- the Republican
Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling said about you
and the entire Republican ticket. He said, "It's
the most ideologically driven ticket that the GOP
has ever put forth." And he is worried that it's
pushing away mainstream voters. What do you say?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:16:48:00 Well, until he stepped out of my race-- by a lot
of measures, he's more conservative than I am.
So I-- I think that-- he-- he had some comments
based on not being in this race. The Northrop
Grumman charge is false. The soulless comment is
offensively false. The kind of personal attacks
that Terry opened up his remarks with today by
saying this has been going on are coming from
Terry McAuliffe.
19:17:16:00 I mean, you all are seeing the ads. It's
overwhelmingly negative. It is unbelievably
false. And no one up here, no one up here has
done more to protect women, which is a focus of
his attacks, than I have. Whether it was back
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when I was an engineering student at UVA and a
friend of mine was sexually assaulted, my
response was to start a new organization that's
still functioning there to protect young women at
UVA. And it was the first of its kind in the
country. We run multiple domestic violence
programs in the Attorney General's Office. And
we started from scratch fighting human
trafficking.
CHUCK TODD:
19:17:51:00 All right.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:17:50:00 And we've done a great job of it.
CHUCK TODD:
19:17:52:00 Ben Pershing has the next question for Mr.
McAuliffe.
BEN PERSHING:
19:17:54:00 Mr. McAuliffe, you proposed spending more money
on teacher salaries, on pre-K education, on
community colleges. Now we haven't heard quite
enough specifics to put an exact price tag on it.
But we're wondering how exactly would you pay for
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that, especially if the General Assembly doesn't
approve Medicaid expansion?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:18:11:00 Very important question. And what I've said is
responsible budgeting. First of all, when I'm
governor, we're gonna look at the efficiencies we
can bring to the government. And then we're
gonna work together to get that Medicaid
expansion. If we don't get the Medicaid
expansion, we can't bring in the efficiencies,
then I agree with you. There's not money to be
spent.
19:18:26:00 So I think it's prudent budgeting first to
determine how much money you have. Then when you
have it, then you can apply it to your
priorities. And this is quite a difference. My
opponent has proposed a $1.4 billion tax cut per
year. He doesn't say how he'd pay for it. Just
the other day, his lieutenant governor said that
E.W. Jackson and Ken Cuccinelli want to get rid
of the corporate income tax in Virginia.
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19:18:51:00 Well, let me tell you what would happen to our
budget. You will see hundreds of millions of
dollars come out of education. You could see
thousands of teachers bein' laid off. At a time
that we need to compete on a global basis. As I
talked about cyber security and all these very
important new businesses, we're not gonna be able
to do that, because money will come out of
education.
19:19:12:00 It's important for me to have the Medicaid
expansion. And when I talk about my budget, I
say it's important to figure out how much money
you have. And then you prioritize and put the
money in. But his plan, $1.4 billion a year,
doesn't say how he'd pay for it. That's $6
billion over the course of the next four years.
Vince Callahan, the former Republican chairman of
the House of Appropriations Committee, said it
would put a gigantic hole in our budget. The
idea that you could cut $6 billion out of the
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budget, get rid of the corporate income tax, not
take the Medicaid expansion. He didn't want the
transportation $6 billion--
CHUCK TODD:
19:19:44:00 Time's up. Thank you, Mr. McAuliffe.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:19:44:00 --it's like me saying I came here on a unicorn.
There's just--
19:19:47:00 (OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
19:19:47:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, you got 90 seconds to respond.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:19:50:00 Well, it's hard to find inefficiencies in a
government you don't understand. And Terry
McAuliffe doesn't know how Virginia government
works. He doesn't understand the issues related
to Virginia government. He can talk at this
topline level like anybody could if they read a
few talking points. But he doesn't know how
Virginia government works.
19:20:10:00 This came out in the NVCC Tech PAC interviews.
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And it wouldn't have if he didn't try to bully
them out of their endorsement. But he did. And
so there was reporting on it. And people noted
that I understood the issues and he didn't. I
want some the serious candidate when it came to
the subject matters that mattered to them. And
Terry wasn't.
19:20:29:00 If you dont start with that fundamental baseline
knowledge, you don't have an easy time finding
inefficiencies. Folks, governor is not a good
entry-level job. But that's what it would be for
Terry. And I already know what works well. And
there are things that work very well in Virginia
government. And there's plenty of 'em. But
there are areas where we need to do much, much
better.
19:20:52:00 Now I would point to Medicaid. Not the
expansion, Medicaid itself. One of the biggest
parts of our budget. We're one of the best
health care fraud fighting-- offices in the whole
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country is my office. I've learned an awful lot
about how Medicaid works and doesn't. And we can
do a whole lot better, just to talk about one
area, to make it more efficient, to make it serve
Virginia's poor better than it does today. But
I'm the only one prepared to do that and who has
a plan--
CHUCK TODD:
19:21:21:00 Okay, that's time.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:21:22:00 --that balances the budget.
CHUCK TODD:
19:21:23:00 When-- when you get your six-second response, Mr.
McAuliffe, you didn't give us a price tag. Why
can't you-- you've been runnin' for governor for
four years. Why can't you give us a price tag on
what you want to-- what spending you want to
expand? What's the price tag?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:21:32:00 Well, I'll-- I'll tell you what I'd love to spend
it on. But-- first of all, I-- I want pre-K,
early childhood development. I think that's very
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important. I talk about what we need to do on
teacher pay. We need accountability. I've
called for a total reform of the SOLs. They
dont work in their present form. We dont have
accountability.
19:21:48:00 Our students are being taught to memorize.
Teachers are being taught to take tests and how
to give tests. That's-- that's not right.
That's not how you build the cognitive mind,
creative reasoning. We need to be involved in
the process early to make sure that we have
progress-based data, not these memorization
tests.
19:22:05:00 I talk about the community colleges. We need to
invest. But Chuck, the key is going to be the
Medicaid expansion. I have said this. My
opponent doesn't want it. I want it. And it's
bipartisan. The Fairfax Chamber. There's Jim
Corcoran in the front row. The Fairfax Chamber
supports the Medicaid expansion. The Virginia
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Chamber of Commerce supports the Medicaid
expansion. So does Lieutenant Governor Bill
Bolling. This is bipartisan mainstream. We are
gonna bring back to Virginia, over the course of
the next seven years, $21 billion of our money
that we're payin' in. Why would we not bring
that back--
19:22:34:00 (OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
19:22:34:00 Okay, so-- so you don't have a price tag?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:22:36:00 --and it will create-- wait, let me finish. This
Medicaid's very important.
CHUCK TODD:
19:22:39:00 I know, I know. We're-- we're-- time's up.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:22:39:00 33,000 new jobs created, Chuck. This is so
important for Virginia--
CHUCK TODD:
19:22:42:00 I-- I just want to clarify, no price tag?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:22:45:00 It's a priority. What--
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CHUCK TODD:
19:22:46:00 There's no-- there's no cost to it. You don't
have a number?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:22:47:00 This is why it's important. Determine first how
much you have. Then you can do it to your
priorities.
CHUCK TODD:
19:22:51:00 All right, the next question, Aaron Gilchrist
for-- Mr. Cuccinelli.
AARON GILCHRIST:
19:22:54:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, as has been mentioned, your
economic plan cuts taxes by $1.4 billion, when
it's fully implemented. And you propose creating
a commission to find ways to pay for the big tax
cut. How do you respond to Virginians who say,
"I'm not voting for a gov-- I'm voting for a
governor, I'm not voting for a commission"?
Isn't leadership about providing some specifics,
in this case, on tax breaks and loopholes that
would go away?
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KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:23:19:00 Yes. My tax relief plan was designed to spur job
growth and to-- more job creation-- put more
money in the hands of our businesses, so they can
reinvest it, and in our fam-- in our family's
budget. It's been analyzed and found to grow
about 58,000 jobs if we can fully implement it.
It'll re-- it'll include lowering the personal
income tax to 5%, the business income tax to 4%.
And by the way, I would note there, North
Carolina two months ago passed a package where
their business income tax will be half of ours if
we don't act.
19:23:54:00 And even if we achieve the goals I've set out of
getting down to 4%, they will still get under us
if they meet their revenue estimates. My friend,
Doug Gansler, on the other side of the river just
announced for governor in Maryland, is talking
about the fact that Virginia's eating Maryland
alive in this front and that they need to bring
their taxes down to compete with us.
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19:24:14:00 We need to compete and do it effectively. I'll
eliminate about 15% of corporate loopholes and
tax breaks that don't work as well as the other
85%. And we'll also cap growth and spending at
about three and a half percent to pay for this
package. This isn't the federal government. We
dont print money. So both sides of the ledger
have to match. The Washington Post gave my
opponent three Pinocchios for the statement you
heard tonight of "He has no way to pay for it."
Aaron, we've put a process in place that will
accomplish the financial goals we need to to do
the tax cuts. And if we don't get the cuts--
CHUCK TODD:
19:24:52:00 Thank you, sir.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:24:52:00 --we don't get to do the taxes.
CHUCK TODD:
19:24:53:00 90 seconds, Mr. McAuliffe.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:24:56:00 If you take the attorney general's plan, Virginia
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will be in financial ruin. He did not-- he did
not support the governor on the transportation,
the bipartisan transportation bill. I was all
in, $6 billion we're gonna be able now to spend
on transportation. When everybody drove in here
to this beautiful hall, you went under l--
underneath the new Silver Line, which my opponent
said-- he was the only statewide official to come
out against it. And he said he would actually
kill it after it was halfway completed.
19:25:21:00 I talk about education. This is so important.
We need to invest in education. His tax plan
takes $6 billion out of the budget over the
course of the next four years. He and E.W.
Jackson believe we should also get rid of the
corporate income tax. He doesn't want the
Medicaid expansion. He's called for the end of
the Department of Education.
19:25:41:00 We cannot grow a 21st century. We cannot be
those global leaders. We need to replace with
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sequestration, we've all seen the numbers. We
know what his tax plan would do to the local
communities. Sharon Bolivo's (PH) right here in
the front row. What it would mean to Fairfax
County to be losing this revenue. What it would
mean to Sharon Bolivo and Fairfax County and the
loss of teachers at a time we should be investing
in our teachers, investing in those STEM courses,
science, technology, engineering, and math. You
can't do that. His plan literally would force us
to lay off thousands of teachers. As I say,
Vince Callahan, the former chairman of the House
Republican Appropriations Committee came out and
said it would put a hole in our budget. Senator
Mark Warner came out the other day.
CHUCK TODD:
19:26:26:00 All right. M-- Mr. Cuccinelli, b-- as you
prepare your 60-second response, you just said
loopholes. We all hear that. We don't know what
that is. It sounds like you're afraid to tell us
what you're thinking about cutting, because it's
the-- two months before the election.
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KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:26:40:00 Chuck, what we're gonna do with the-- with the
loopholes and exemptions is r-- rank 'em. We all
know what they are. They've all been identified.
CHUCK TODD:
19:26:47:00 What are they?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:26:48:00 But-- but-- the-- well, there's-- there's
literally scores of them. And the-- the standard
of eliminating one is what's critical here. If
all we're doing is giving money to a business
interest, that's not something that's working for
the people paying for it, which is the taxpayers
of Virginia.
19:27:05:00 If instead, out of that tax credit, we get other
economic benefits that return to the people,
Virginia's people, paying for it, that's a tax
credit to keep. Those are the ones that we want
to grow our economy. But on a bipartisan basis.
We've got to be able to find at least a sixth of
them, about 15%, that dont perform, that don't
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meet that standard. That's all we have to do to
get our 58,000 job-creating tax plan-- put in
effect. I'm the only candidate with a plan to
grow jobs, other than to say the word "jobs"
repeatedly.
CHUCK TODD:
19:27:43:00 Julie Kerry has the next question for Mr.
McAuliffe.
JULIE KERRY:
19:27:45:00 Well, the tragic shooting at the Navy Yard has
once again cast a spotlight on gun laws. Mr.
McAuliffe, as part of your plan to strengthen
Virginia's cities, you say you support universal
background checks, limiting the size of magazine,
a return to the one-gun a month purchase rule.
But missing from that list is and assault weapons
ban, something you said as recently as December
of 2012 that you supported. So I have a two-part
question. First, have you changed your mind
about an assault weapons ban? And secondly, how
big a priority would you make it as governor to
change Virginia's gun laws?
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TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:28:16:00 I haven't changed my mind. It's a very pertinent
question for tonight. Obviously, after the
tragedy we just had at the Navy Yard-- the
tragedy we had in Virginia, Virginia Tech,
Aurora, Newtown, Connecticut, as a father and as
a husband, I can speak for everybody in this
audience. When we drop our children off at
school and we dropped our loved ones off at work,
we want to know that they're gonna be safe, that
our communities are safe. It is so important.
19:28:50:00 That's why I'm for responsible gun ownership. I
have called for universal background checks. My
opponent doesn't support that. I'm a strong
supporter of the Second Amendment. I'm a hunter.
I own guns. I've gone through background checks.
They take just a couple minutes. We have a
gigantic loophole in Virginia. You can buy guns
through mail order. You can go to these gun show
loopholes.
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19:29:14:00 There are certain individuals who just should not
own a gun. There are individuals that have
mental illness. I think this is such a critical
issue for us. How many people have to be killed
till we wake up to have sensible gun ownership?
Now I was very dismayed with the United States
Senate this year. 91% of Americans support
universal background checks. And the Senate
refused to even bring it up for a vote. As
governor, I'm gonna push. Most importantly, we
need universal background checks for everyone--
CHUCK TODD:
19:29:51:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, could--
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:29:51:00 --to keep our loved ones safe.
CHUCK TODD:
19:29:51:00 --you-- could you address in your-- 90 seconds
why all of the-- recommendations from the
Virginia Tech review haven't been implemented,
including background checks?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:30:01:00 Of course, the-- tragedy at Virginia Tech led us
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to look at a lot of things. And for those of you
who know me, you know that I have been deeply
involved in working with people suffering from
mental illness for years. And-- one of the
common themes in the most public tragedies is
that we're dealing with people who suffer from
mental illness.
19:30:22:00 I would tell you, though, that the more common
tragedy in mental illness is day to day, one
person at a time, that you dont read about in
the paper. It's a suicide. It's a family
struggling and they're at their wits' end to try
and get one of their family members on a path to
recovery and-- sustainability. We have not
found-- gun control to-- to effect that, to be
effective in that area.
19:30:51:00 What we've done in Virginia is we have become the
number one state per capita in screening out
people with mental illness from gun purchases.
We're the f-- we're the best state at that in the
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country. We're also the number one state that
I'm aware of, The Department of Justice doesn't
keep data on all of them-- in terms of
prosecuting people who attempt to buy guns
illegally.
19:31:11:00 That is the best way to enforce our gun laws is
to be aggressive and proactive. I'm running
against the only F-rated candidate from the--
N.R.A., the only one of all six running
statewide. I will support the Second Amendment.
It deserves support-- as does our whole
constitution. But I will continue to focus on
where I believe the main source of this problem
is. And that is resolving mental health issues.
CHUCK TODD:
19:31:35:00 All right. Mr. McAuliffe, you've got 60.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:31:38:00 He absolutely said nothing with that response as
it relates to gun control. Obviously, we both
believe in investing in-- in-- in mental illness,
mental health, and what we need to do. I can
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tell you this, without the Medicaid expansion
money, there's not a penny for any new investment
in mental health, not a penny. With his tax plan
that would take all this money out of our budget,
there's not a penny.
19:31:58:00 So it's really just talk. Now whatever rating I
may get from the N.R.A., I'm gonna stand here and
tell you today that as governor, I want to make
sure that every one of our citizens in the
Commonwealth of Virginia are safe. Everyone of
our children, when they go into a classroom,
should know that they are safe. When any one of
our loved ones goes into work, what happened at
the Navy Yard the other day is continued pattern
of what's going on. We need to eliminate guns
from the folks who should not own guns. There
are many reasons why individuals who are
dangerous, who have a issue of mental hellness--
mental illness. And a background check, I've
done it, it takes two, three, four minutes.
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CHUCK TODD:
19:32:39:00 Thank you there. We're gonna do a pause here for
a brief commercial break. We're gonna be right
back with many more questions for the candidates
of the governor-- for governor of Virginia. And
after the debate, you can join me and News 4
Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Kerry for a
special Google Hangout on NBCWashington.com.
We'll be right back. (APPLAUSE)
19:32:58:00 (COMMERCIAL BREAK NOT TRANSCRIBED)
CHUCK TODD:
19:35:29:00 (APPLAUSE) And we are back, live here in McLean
with the two candidates for governor of Virginia,
Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli. Mr.--
Cuccinelli and Mr. McAuliffe, this next question,
you're both gonna get 90 seconds to respond. It
has to do with the-- the stuff that's goin' acr--
on across the Potomac. Just a few miles away,
the possibility of a government shutdown, which
would affect thousands of Virginians as you both
know.
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19:35:49:00 So a quick 90 seconds, both of you, on this. Mr.
Cuccinelli, I want you to go first. Do you
support the-- Ted Cruz's effort here to use any
means necessary to prevent the implementation of
the president's health care law? And Mr.
McAuliffe, do you think President Obama has shown
the right leadership to resolve this stalemate?
Mr. Cuccinelli, you first.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:36:08:00 Well, first of all-- I'm a Northern Virginian.
I've lived up here my whole life. None of us
want to see a government shutdown. We don't want
to see that across the river. It wouldn't be
good for America. We're already seeing in the
Virginia economy the problems associated with the
uncertainty of federal budgeting as it is. Both
in Northern Virginia and in Southeastern Virginia
in the Hampton Roads area.
19:36:29:00 And that's causing all sorts of problems here in
Virginia. But since I'm running for governor,
what I want to tell you is that this is not the
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kind of thing that you'd see happen in a
Cuccinelli governorship, as we put together a
Virginia budget. But 10 days ago-- 11 days ago,
last weekend, my opponent repeatedly said that he
wouldn't sign a Virginia budget that didn't have
the Medicaid expansion in it.
19:36:52:00 And you've heard him here tonight talk over and
over and over about how this is basically his
funding mechanism for everything he wants to do.
So it's clear he's very committed to the Medicaid
expansion. I understand that. But it is not the
be all and end all of Virginia budgets,
particularly if you're willing to shut down
Virginia government just to get the Medicaid
expansion, which he said repeatedly he won't sign
a budget without Medicaid expansion in it.
19:37:18:00 Now I disagree with him on Medicaid expansion.
But this is not an appropriate tactic for
Virginia. This is a Washington tactic. And if
you like the way Washington works, you will like
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a Governor McAuliffe. If you don't think
Washington works right, if you think it's
dysfunctional, as I do, then I'm your candidate
in this race.
CHUCK TODD:
19:37:37:00 All right, M-- Mr. McAuliffe, before you answer,
you-- you didn't-- answer the Ted Cruz portion
here. So do you support--
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:37:42:00 I said I don't want the federal government to
shut down.
CHUCK TODD:
19:37:44:00 So you don't-- you-- you don't support his
effort, what he's doing?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:37:46:00 Well, he finished a sort of filibuster today.
And, you know, at-- at some point you gotta vote.
So--
CHUCK TODD:
19:37:51:00 So you don't support what he's doin'?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:37:53:00 Well, I'd like to see Obamacare pulled out of--
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federal law, but, you know, we've gotta keep
moving forward and make compromises to get the
budget going.
CHUCK TODD:
19:37:59:00 Mr. McAuliffe, is-- is President Obama showing--
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:38:01:00 First of all, no-- no budget is--
CHUCK TODD:
19:38:02:00 Has President-- has President Obama shown the
right leadership? This is--
19:38:04:00 (OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
19:38:05:00 --this is your-- this-- you're both talkin' about
this. I'm tryin' to-- we're tryin' to save a
little time here.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:38:08:00 But let me answer the question, if I could, that
he just laid out there, if I could for a second,
Chuck.
CHUCK TODD:
19:38:11:00 I-- well, the question is about whether you think
President Obama's shown the right leadership to
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solve this crisis.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:38:15:00 No budget will be shut down in Virginia over the
Medicaid expansion. I will work in a bipartisan
way to get it done. That is why over a dozen
former Republican legislators have endorsed my
candidacy. Many of them who had never endorsed a
Democrat before. Just last week in Virginia
Beach, the mayor-- Republican mayor of the
largest city in Virginia, who has never endorsed
a Democrat in his life, Mayor Will Sessoms,
endorsed our candidacy.
19:38:45:00 I now have six of the seven mayors in Hampton
Roads. Why? Because they know we will work
together to get things done. So we won't have
any-- government shutdown. And the only one on
this stage that almost had that effected was Ken
Cuccinelli, when he almost derailed the Virginia
budget, when he was trying to defund Planned
Parenthood.
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19:39:05:00 So he's the only one on the stage that actually
has tried to shut down our government. Now I
think it's disgrace what's goin' on in
Washington. I place a pox on everybody's house
that's not workin'. It's just not workin' as it
is today. Sequestration should never-- these
issues that we have goin' should-- it was
supposed to be so onerous that it would never
happen. Well, it's now happening. And these
things should never be used as bargaining chips
for our budget. So until they get it resolved, I
say shame on everybody.
CHUCK TODD:
19:39:33:00 Including the president?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:39:35:00 Shame on everybody till this gets done.
CHUCK TODD:
19:39:37:00 Julie Kerry has the next question for Mitch--
Mr.-- Cuccinelli.
JULIE KERRY:
19:39:40:00 And we'll talk a little bit more about Medicaid.
As everybody knows, next weekend enrollment for
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the new health care exchanges begins. Mr.
Cuccinelli, we all know that you're firmly
against Virginia expanding Medicaid to give
health care coverage to a family of four making
$32,500 a year. What do you say, though, to
those low income Virginians, who would not be
able to get Medicaid coverage with the Governor
Cuccinelli, but could if they simply lived across
the Potomac in Maryland or the District?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:40:07:00 Well, understand Julie that right now we have
approximately a million-- Virginians-- in poor
families in our Medicaid program. And it can
work a lot better for the folks who are in it. A
40% expansion of Medicaid is not the way to help
make it work better. Now Governor McDonald took
a broad view of government reform. And I have a
narrow and deep view. And it is-- focuses on
VDOT and it focuses on DMAS.
19:40:35:00 I've had an awful lot of time as their attorneys
to spend learning about those-- two agencies.
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There's an awful lot more we can do there.
Earlier, Terry had said, "Well, we can't move
money around in Medicaid." Well, yes, actually,
we can. And we can-- address mental health more
if we move money from one waiver program to
another within Medicaid, if that's our priority.
19:40:55:00 And for me, it is a priority. I think we need to
make Medicai-- the Medicaid system we have now
work better for the people who are in it. And
there are ways to do that. We're losing doctors
and nurses and medical practices in our Medicaid
program. We're trying desperately to keep them
in. And that's a tremendous struggle for us.
19:41:14:00 I believe we ought to lower the liability for
medical practices for those who are working in
our Medicaid program, like our good Samaritan
standard that we have-- for doctors, for
instance, that come across accidents. This is
below cost medical care that we're getting for
Virginia's poor. Overwhelming the system we have
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now that's struggling as it is isn't a way to get
good health care--
CHUCK TODD:
19:41:37:00 Mr. McAuliffe.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:41:38:00 --for other Virginians.
CHUCK TODD:
19:41:38:00 Ninety seconds.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:41:40:00 As we've discussed, this Medicaid expansion is
very important. It's supported in a bipartisan.
It's mainstream. Let's be clear. We should just
walk through the numbers very quickly. Beginning
next year, 400,000 Virginians will get access to
quality, lifesaving care. Number two, this is
our money. It is now the law of the land.
Twenty-nine other states have agreed to accept
it. Some very conservative governors have agreed
to accept it.
19:42:03:00 We're bringing back and as Lieutenant Governor
Bolling said the other day, we're gonna pay $26
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billion over the next 10 years into the federal
government. Why would we not bring $21 billion
of our money back into the Virginia economy to
turbocharge our economy, use that money to bring
more efficiency to the health care delivery
system, make it more cost-effective?
19:42:22:00 And if we don't take the Medicaid expansion
money, then many of our rural hospitals could be
jeopardized. The federal DSH payments,
disproportionate share payments, that is slowly
being ended. So today with a low income
individual who goes to a hospital, they get
reimbursed by the federal DSH payments. That may
go away.
19:42:41:00 In addition, it frees up over the next eight
years, $800 million in the general fund, which we
can use for our priorities. But I go back to the
point, he continually goes to-- on these big
federal issues. But he was absent on one of the
most important federal issues that we had, the
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reauthorization of the Violence Against Women
Act. He was one of three attorney generals in
our nation that refused to sign a letter. 47
other attorney generals. I don't know why he
would not v-- want Virginia women protected
against violence.
CHUCK TODD:
19:43:13:00 Go ahead, Mr. Cuccinelli, 60 seconds.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:43:15:00 Well, first of all, unlike my opponent, I do my
homework. I called Congressman Ryan about the
federal match that we're promised, the-- the
raining down money that Terry is relying on to
fund everything he's promising everyone all over
Virginia. And Congressman Ryan told me, "Ken, it
doesn't matter whether Democrats are in charge up
here or Republicans, we don't have the money in
the federal government to meet these matches
that-- that are proposed in the federal health
care bill."
19:43:46:00 So the question then becomes for a state, when
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we're thinking of getting in, whether you trust
that the money will be there even if you have a
plan to fund the state share, which my opponent
does not. I am not willing to risk Virginia's
budget when the federal government is already
taking the position, many of them taking the
position, that they cannot afford it, even if
they wanted to. The hole in our budget when this
is fully implemented now is $200 million a year.
CHUCK TODD:
19:44:17:00 All right.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:44:18:00 That'll explode when they don't fund it at the
federal level.
CHUCK TODD:
19:44:19:00 Thank you, Mr. Cuccinelli. Aaron-- has the next
question for Mr. McAuliffe.
AARON GILCHRIST:
19:44:23:00 Mr. McAuliffe, the new NBC 4/Marist poll shows
54% of Virginia voters support gay marriage. You
are among those who support that. But you say
the legislature would not be able to overturn the
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state's ban on gay marriage. Why not use the
office to lead on this issue?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:44:40:00 And we certainly could. I do have some
tremendous-- challenges because of the issues of
economic development, job creation that I need to
focus on. But I have come out for marriage
equality. Irish Catholic kid growin' up.
Dorothy and I spend a lot of time discussin' this
issue. And what really turned it for us is
probably the Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
19:45:01:00 The idea that we could send our men and women
across the globe to fight for us. And then they
come back and they don't have the same equal
opportunities and equal rights, I just think was
plain wrong. So I support marriage equality.
And I've said that. And this is quite a
difference from my opponent.
19:45:17:00 He has referred to gay Virginians as "soulless
and self-destructive human beings." I made the
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point earlier. It almost cost us the Northrop
Grumman deal. And he said it isn't true. Well,
the New York Times reported a-- Governor McDonald
administration official, who told the New York
Times that his actions almost cost (UNINTEL) the
deal. So I would just go back to Governor
McDonald's administration and ask that individual
why he said that then. But this is a very
important issue. I was out early on the issue.
And if we can get a bill through the-- general
assembly and on my desk as governor, I'd sign it.
CHUCK TODD:
19:45:51:00 Mr. Cuccinelli.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:45:52:00 Well, it actually doesn't happen in the form of a
bill. It's a constitutional amendment, so it
never comes to the governor. But to your point,
a governor can still lead on the issue. But it
will never come to the desk of a Virginia
governor. Look, I understand and respect the
fact that this is a sensitive issue to a lot of
Virginians.
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19:46:10:00 But I'm one of those who do believe that the
institution of marriage should remain between one
man and one woman. I would note that my opponent
appears poised, based on some of his comments--
during the campaign, to not defend our state
constitution. Now look, as attorney general,
I've defended laws whether I like them or not.
And as pointed out by a former Democrat attorney
general, Tony Troy, a pattern for Terry, though,
that's been emerging is that he seems to think he
gets to decide which laws and which parts of the
Virginia Constitution that you're obligated to
defend as the Virginia governor.
19:46:47:00 We have two lawsuits running right now on this
matter. And the duty of the attorney general and
the duty of the governor is to defend our
constitution. If they want to change it, one
could lead, as the question suggested, to try and
get the general assembly to make those amendments
and put it on the ballot. But-- but the office
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has duties that come with it. And I respect the
office. And I respect those duties. I respect
Virginia's history. And this is part of it now.
It may change in the future. But right now, the
next governor's obligated to defend our
constitution. I intend to do that.
CHUCK TODD:
19:47:20:00 Go ahead, Mr. McAuliffe, do you have a response?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:47:21:00 Yeah, I will support legislation that allows
equal rights for individuals, for gay Virginians.
I've said continuously that-- you know, my
opponent has continually attacked gay Virginians.
And you cannot grow a business by doin' that.
But clearly, if we get through the general
assembly, we go to a referendum, we come back as
it relates to gay marriage.
19:47:38:00 But I have some big issues that I'm facing right
in front of me. He talks about his duty in
office. Well, I gotta tell you, we had thousands
of landowners in Southwest Virginia who had
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methane gas taken off their property. They were
owed money by two out of state energy companies.
Now what was the attorney general's office and
their responsibility?
19:48:01:00 What they were doin' was secretly telling those
two out of state energy companies how to get out
of that deal and givin' 'em advice of how to beat
the landowners. Now my opponent took $100,000 in
contribution. So while he was taking
contributions, the folks-- who were owed money,
thousands and thousands of Virginia landowners
were denied their money that was due them from--
CHUCK TODD:
19:48:25:00 All right.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:48:25:00 --methane gas that had been taken off their
property.
CHUCK TODD:
19:48:27:00 Thank-- thank you, Mr. McAuliffe.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:48:27:00 He's not doin' his job as attorney general.
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CHUCK TODD:
19:48:28:00 All right, thank you Mr. McAuliffe. Ben's got
the next question for Mr.-- Cuccinelli.
BEN PERSHING:
19:48:32:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, why do you think that Johnny
Williams, the CEO of Star Scientific, gave you
the state's top law enforcement official $18,000
in gifts. And now we know you wrote a check to
charity for that amount. But why were you
willing to accept those gifts in the first place,
given that your office has said he was not a
close friend of yours?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:48:50:00 Well, I-- I would say that-- you know, I-- I met-
- ironically, I met-- Mr. Williams through-- the
governor. And-- and at the time-- you know, what
was goin' on there didn't seem like a big deal.
I didn't know about-- any business he had before
Virginia. And as far as I know, except for their
tax case, they had none. And the only thing we
did in their tax case was oppose them,
vehemently.
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19:49:17:00 They never got-- a break from us. And-- and
they're still fighting it today. And-- and we're
still through free council to the taxpayers--
defending that. And I did give the $18,000 to a
charity. Because I thought it was the right
thing to do. It took awhile to get that together
for the Cuccinelli family. That was-- a hard
thing to do.
19:49:38:00 I also called this summer for a special session
for ethics reform. And I'll remind some of you
that I'm sure don't remember in 2009, when I ran
for attorney general, I put forward an ethics
platform. And we got about half of it achieved,
including the inspector general, which was a big
deal to me when I was in the state senate and
when I was attorney general.
19:49:56:00 And I think that's a big step forward for
Virginia. We have a lot more to do in that area.
But I would say that this is an area I've led on
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as attorney general when I ran for that office.
I've run on-- a platform this time. I would have
liked to have gotten it done during the summer.
But the governor didn't agree with it.
CHUCK TODD:
19:50:13:00 Mr. McAuliffe, as you formulate your answer,
you've talked a lot about this tonight. So can
you-- explain why you haven't returned-- released
more of your tax returns. You pushed Mitt Romney
to do this. And you said by not releasin' him
the imagination runs wild.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:50:26:00 Yeah, I've gone-- I've gone beyond what the last
governors have done, when Governor Kane, Governor
Warner, and Governor McDonald ran. I've gone up
and beyond that. But the issue about the
attorney general and Star Scientific, let's be
clear, Star Scientific owed the state $1.7
million. This suit languished for two years, for
nearly two years.
19:50:48:00 Now instead of the attorney general, as I say,
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going after that, bringing that money back to
Virginia-- taxpayers, he was being taken to New
York City. He was being taken to a Smith
Mountain home-- Lake resort. He spent time and
his staff stayed at his house in Richmond. He
took $18,000 worth of gifts. He bought stock in
the company. And it wasn't disclosed.
19:51:07:00 That company had business before the attorney
general. That was his legal responsibility.
That's why I've called for ethics reform. I've
called for a bipartisan commission, number one.
And number two, I have called for a $100 gift
ban. Any state elected official cannot take a
gift of more than $100. Now I'm gonna propose
that the day I'm-- inaugurated as governor. And
I'm not gonna wait. I'm gonna issue an executive
order for myself, my family, and my appointees
that they cannot take anything over $100. And--
and I would say to the attorney general, join me
in this $100 gift ban. I mean, clearly, you can
buy a lot of turkey for a hundred bucks.
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CHUCK TODD:
19:51:47:00 Mr.-- Cuccinelli?
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:51:48:00 Well, first of all, the Star materials are-- I
reported them. It's important for Virginians to
know I brought this forward. I disclosed them.
I called a press conference to do it. That's how
committed to transparency I am for Virginians.
Because I understand there were problems there.
But I'm the one who brought them forward. I
turned it over to a Democrat prosecutor. And he
cleared me.
19:52:12:00 Does anybody think Terry McAuliffe would have
ever done that if the roles were reversed? I
released eight years of my tax returns to the
media. He won't release any, even though the
company he's chairman of or was chairman of
(that's not altogether clear) is under Securities
Exchange Commission investigation and Department
of Homeland Security investigation.
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19:52:32:00 I think now more than ever we need transparency
from people who seek to have the trust of the
folks of Virginia to assume the office of
governor. And it's pretty rich to have the guy
who rented out the Lincoln Bedroom, sold seats on
Air Force One, was an unindicted coconspirator in
a Teamsters election law--
CHUCK TODD:
19:52:50:00 All right.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:52:49:00 --money laundering case be talking about ethics
now.
CHUCK TODD:
19:52:52:00 All right. Good news for you--
19:52:53:00 (OVERTALK)
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:52:54:00 --false things tonight.
CHUCK TODD:
19:52:55:00 Good-- good-- good news for you is that-- we got
a little bit of time. I'm gonna do a little
lightning round with you, so you both-- I want
you to just take 30 seconds, deal with this
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question. Would you be open to Virginia-- Mr.
McAuliffe first, to Virginia joining most other
states in the country and allowing school
districts to start school before Labor Day? It's
somehow not allowed in this state.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:53:15:00 No.
CHUCK TODD:
19:53:16:00 You don't want to allow it? Keep it-- keep it
the way it is.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:53:17:00 The tourism business is too important. The
change would result in Virginia-- it'd cost us
about $369 million. Tourism-- is a vital part.
It is our second biggest industry. Agriculture
and forestry are one and three. They're a $79
billion industry.
CHUCK TODD:
19:53:32:00 Even though kids could fall behind-- with AP
tests, things like that?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:53:35:00 Oh, there's a lot of best practice we can do. I
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was just down at Newport News, the Achievable
Dream, a spectacular school. They go an hour
longer during the day. They go every other
Saturday. There's many things that we can do.
But we cannot with these economic headwinds give
up $369 million worth of--
CHUCK TODD:
19:53:49:00 Tryin' to squeeze it in here.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:53:49:00 --tourism money.
CHUCK TODD:
19:53:50:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, go ahead.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:53:51:00 I brought this bill on behalf of the Democrat
Board of-- School Board of Fairfax County, when I
was in the state senate. Children outrank
tourism. Now there are changes that we can make
to take the pressure off the pre-Labor Day start,
like appropriate reforms to the standards of
learning. Because we sp-- we focus on that day
very much. There are things we can do to make
this easier until we get before Labor Day. But
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ultimately, localities should have the
opportunity to make that decision themselves.
CHUCK TODD:
19:54:22:00 All right, before-- before I get to closing
statements here, I got one weird sports question
for you. The Redskins. Should they change their
name, Mr. McAuliffe? Is it offensive to-- it's
offensive to a lot of Native Americans. Do you
think they should change their name?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:54:34:00 I don't think the governor ought to be tellin'
private businesses what they should do about
their business.
CHUCK TODD:
19:54:38:00 Even if it's offensive--
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:54:39:00 I'm not--
CHUCK TODD:
19:54:38:00 --to people?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:54:40:00 I'm-- I don't think the governor should be
tellin' private businesses--
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CHUCK TODD:
19:54:42:00 Do you have a personal opinion on it?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:54:44:00 As governor, I don't-- I'm not gonna tell Dan
Snyder or anybody else what they should do with
their business. And I want to congratulate the
Redskins, because I went down to the training
park this year in Richmond. And it is
spectacular--
CHUCK TODD:
19:54:53:00 Mister--
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:54:54:00 --what Governor McDonald--
19:54:54:00 (OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
19:54:55:00 Mr. Cuccinelli, do you-- do you think it's time
for the Redskins to change their name?
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:54:59:00 I-- I think that is up to them entirely. I think
that, you know, 80 years of history with that
team is kind of hard to leave behind. I
understand that. I also don't think RG3 should
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have been played in the second quarter in the
playoffs last year. (LAUGH)
CHUCK TODD:
19:55:12:00 Well, I had a l-- I had a little fun there. That
concludes our questions. And now, Mr. McAuliffe,
you have a one minute closing statement.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:55:19:00 Well-- thank you once again to the-- Fairfax
Chamber for hosting us tonight. There is a real
choice in this election about who will grow and
who will diversify our economy. We must work in
a bipartisan way if we want to create jobs. My
opponent talks a lot about experience. But his
experience has been in dividing people by
pursuing his own ideological agenda, introducing
legislation that would outlaw most common forms
of birth control.
19:55:50:00 And bullying the Board of Health, which resulted
in the shutting down of some women's health
centers. Frankly, I think Virginia women have
had just about enough of Ken Cuccinelli's
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experience. The approach that I'll bring to
Richmond is different. Building on bipartisan
coalitions that we established and brought
together in this campaign, I'll work with both
parties to find mainstream solutions to the big
problems that we face. It's the approach that
worked for Mark Warner. And it's approach that
we need--
CHUCK TODD:
19:56:20:00 All right.
TERRY MCAULIFFE:
19:56:21:00 --desperately now in Virginia.
CHUCK TODD:
19:56:23:00 And Mr. Cuccinelli, you get the last word.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:56:25:00 The Northern Virginia Technology Council's
TechPAC and Virginia's small independent
businesses have endorsed me this week or last
week. Because they know I'm best prepared to
fight to grow Virginia's economy. My opponent is
the only one in this race who's driven jobs from
this state. And he has no plan to bring them
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back.
19:56:44:00 Terry sold more visas to Chinese citizens as part
of Greentech than his failed company has sold
cars. His jobs history with Greentech is
terrible. I'll be a governor who fights for you.
Terry will fight for Terry, because he always
has. If you'll give me your support on November
5th, I'll fight for our education and economic
policies that grow jobs for the middle class.
19:57:07:00 And by leaving families and businesses with more
of their own money, so they can invest those
hard-earned dollars right here in Virginia. My
jobs plan will grow 58,000 good full-time jobs in
Virginia. I have faith in the people of Virginia
that if we remain true to our noblest ideals and
principles like limited government--
CHUCK TODD:
19:57:25:00 All right.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:57:25:00 --and strong families, that we can be better--
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CHUCK TODD:
19:57:27:00 Thank you.
KEN CUCCINELLI:
19:57:27:00 --in the future than we've been in the past.
CHUCK TODD:
19:57:29:00 Thank you both. Thank you very much. Voters,
it's up to you.
19:57:31:00 (COMMERCIAL BREAK NOT TRANSCRIBED)
* * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *