four weeks from midterm election day
voters will decide the balance of power
in Washington and one of the most
closely watched congressional races in
the country is the one who represent the
eighth District of Michigan
it's the incumbent Republican Mike
Bishop being challenged by Democrat
ELISA slot gun they're both here today
face to face today is Sunday October 7
2000 18 and this is flashpoint
hi welcome to flashpoint we're gonna get
right to the matter today so that we can
devote every second to my two guests
this morning they're the centerpieces of
as I mentioned one of the most closely
followed races in the nation the eighth
District of Michigan has been
represented by Republican Mike Bishop he
is seeking his third term in that seat
being challenged this time around by a
Michigan native who spent the last 15
years in the US intelligence and
military communities ELISA slot gun I am
so grateful to both of you for accepting
our invitation to be here especially in
a non formal debate format but really
more of a conversation and Congressman
I'll start with you as we get our
conversation going I read something
recently congratulations I guess are in
order
you both are in the top ten in the
country for the amount of money that is
being spent against you a race that
looks like it's headed toward maybe 15
million dollars between the two of you
and I guess my question is with
Americans widely reviling Congress it's
become synonymous with the futility and
waste and given the hatred and the
vitriol we see in the American
conversation right now why do you want
to be in Congress look it I was born and
raised in this district my family and I
have been there for years going back
many generations I love my country and I
do this out of love of country and I
will continue to do this I think it's
important for all of us to stand up and
be a part of the future of our country
and stand up to some of the bullying
that's going on in this country right
now and I'm not going to be chased out
of this district by Nancy Pelosi or
anybody who wants to you know do a
classic Washington DC power grab I'm
gonna stand up to it I'm gonna fight for
it I believe in our founding principles
and our founding fathers
I believe our Constitution is something
to fight for and I'm gonna continue to
do that miss Larkin you've been around
the political scene because you've had
appointed jobs you've been a part of a
couple of administrations but this is
your first move into politics itself why
do you want to be a part of this man
yeah I get asked that a lot actually
because everywhere I go in the district
people are telling me you know what the
system is corrupt
both parties are broken I'm not gonna
vote and as a national security person I
spent 14 years in national security
working for both Democrats and
Republicans that scares me that people
are bowing out of our democratic system
I think we just need a new generation
that thinks differently that works
harder and remembers that they are
public servants I think people have
forgotten that their job is to make the
lives of their constituents better and I
believe the only way that we're gonna
fix it is if a new generation comes in
on both sides of the aisle so I'm I'm I
think it's worth fighting for
we're in a service family my husband's
30 years in the Army it's it's what we
believe in it's our country let's start
with this then which is that often
midterm elections are seen as a
referendum on the occupant of the White
House a lot of people see this as a
referendum on Donald Trump I'd like you
to assess the Donald Trump presidency
for me he's done some things that a lot
of Democrats have been asking for for
years when it comes to trade and yet
he's done some things that obviously
probably rankle a lot of Democrats
what's your assessment of them yeah so
far I mean I think that leadership
climate is set from the top and the
leadership climate that been it has been
set is a tone and tenor of vitriol that
is unbecoming of the country that I
served in the country that we all love
and I think that it's the responsibility
of anyone who's in leadership to hold
themselves to a higher standard of
integrity and set a positive tone you
know I have a I have a ton of people who
are supporting our campaign frankly who
are Republicans who will say I just this
isn't how I raise my kids it's not how I
want my my I learned in church this is
just not how we are meant to be as a
country we can do great things when we
work together but he's splitting people
apart congressman your assessment of the
trump presidency these first two years
well I'm interested in that in that a
critique of the president because it's
exactly what my opponents been doing is
spending millions of dollars Washington
tidak Washington DC dollars Hollywood
dollars against me with nothing but
vitriol and incivility
and I can tell you that there are times
when I disagree with the present there
are times when I agree with the
president and I know how to approach it
I think the economy is going great right
now I think the times that you've
disagreed with the president if I can
hold on usually Michigan issues I've had
a chance to interact with the the
administration with regard to trade with
regard to tariffs with regard to the
Great Lakes as you know the executive
budget boxed out the Great Lakes and the
Great Lakes restoration initiative
that's
important to me it's important to my
family it's not a Republican or Democrat
issue it's something that's important to
all of us so we fought to get that funny
back into the budget and that's
something we had to take on the the
executive branch to do so you don't
always get along with it
one of the great things is because the
Constitution this is a separate but
equal branch of government my
responsibility is to oversee the
executive branch and that's what I do he
mentioned the tariffs I'd like us to
talk about trade policy and what that's
meant from Michigan
Jim Hackett at Ford recently said that
the trade the steel tariffs have cost
forty billion dollars
Mary bucks Eiger is a local lifelong
Republican auto supplier who believes
that these tariffs may run her right out
of business what are your thoughts on
the tariffs yeah I mean no I don't think
anyone disagrees that China is cheating
in the global system right so the
sentiment makes sense but you can't have
the cure for the disease be worse than a
disease itself and if it's punishing
middle class you know voters if it's
punishing our auto industry our farmers
I live in a soybean farm that it just
doesn't make sense for us and you have
to stand up and say something about that
so you know but on other things listen
you call a spade a spade it looks like
the deal that we have on NAFTA right now
is positive right if the details bear
out but you know I think everyone agrees
China is playing unfairly in the system
but the the the cure cannot be worse
than the disease have you made your
frustrations with the tariffs known at
the White House absolutely in fact I was
in the White House when he returned home
from Helsinki and had a chance to be in
a roundtable discussion actually about
tax reform but in that conversation I
had a chance to talk to him about
tariffs and trade and let him know how
important it is to the state of Michigan
it's it's unique we live in a peninsula
it's not just our manufacturing but it's
also our farmers who are living paycheck
to paycheck and we got to make sure we
protect them
we still assited some questions from
some of our viewers and many of them
sort of go into the questions I'm asking
I wanted to ask one of them verbatim
Michael naggy said I want to hear their
detailed views on gun rights including
ownership of handguns rifles assault
weapons large capacity magazines and
concealed carry not just this I support
the Second Amendment
miss Locke when she served so I grew up
on a gun owning family I grew up on a
you know if we have a family farm when I
was trained to go to Iraq I was trained
in a Glock and an m4 and carried a
weapon out there my husband was you know
30 years in the army carried a weapon
every day he was deployed so I am a big
believer in the Second Amendment but
it's because of that background that I
believe we need to have an honest
conversation about gun safety and I
think the area where we have common
ground is universal background checks
and closing all the loopholes so that
mentally ill people domestic abusers
terrorists on the watch list
can't buy a gun in our country it's the
same kind of background check that I
went through before the CIA would ever
put me in weapons training same
background check that went my husband
went through before he was put on the
range as an army officer and I think
that's where we have common ground if I
can pass all this background checks
should I be able to own an assault
weapon or an a high-capacity magazine to
go with it yeah so I don't think you
know as someone who carried an m4 that
you have we should be able to sell
material that turns any weapon into a
fully automatic weapon right so bump
stocks certain types of trigger
mechanism physics and extended magazines
I just don't know that we need to sell
them here in our country until we have a
strong conversation about how we're
gonna protect our kids in schools are
some Bishop your thoughts on what what
does what amounts to common sense gun
law to you well in in you know I do
support the Second Amendment and I have
I think it's important to have an honest
and open discussion about this I have
been working with the school safety
caucus to talk about ways that we can
work together in a bipartisan way to
bring forward common-sense solutions for
our schools to allow our school
districts to harden their systems to
protect students I have three kids my
own it's something that I think about
all the time I'm not afraid to take on
my own my own party I supported the
repeal of the the bump stock because I
saw what happened after after the
horrible incident in Las Vegas that we
have to do something about it absolutely
you have to make sure that whomever owns
a weapon as I do
that they're responsible and they're
trained and we have to make sure that
that is part of you know the the the
ethics of holding a gun and
having the right to use we'd be arming
teaching I don't think you should put
the guns in the hand of anybody who
doesn't want to have it I don't think
you should put the guns in the hand of
anybody who's not trained to use it I
don't think that's the solution but I do
think that every school district and
every local unit of government needs to
have those kind of resources to do what
they need to do in their district the
same question should we arm teachers no
I mean I think that the teachers I've
talked to have said the day that I'm
forced to carry a gun is the day I
retire as a teacher and I can't think of
something more dangerous than putting
the hand you know in the hands of
someone who don't want doesn't want to
be holding a weapon I'm forcing them to
take a weapon I want to move there one
more topic before we have to get to a
break and that's immigration should
there be a wall on our southern border
wall is not when you say wall you
suggest that it's a structure across
what we need is a secure border there
are places along our border that have a
unique spot for a wall but there are
technology that would allow us to create
a barrier that is equal to a wall and I
think we need to invest in that I you
know when I hear wall I understand what
people are saying we need to secure our
borders to ensure that we have proper
immigration to ensure that we don't have
a direct flow of drugs
and trade of sleep traffic back and
forth with human beings I think we have
to do whatever we can to secure our
border should ice be a part of that
absolutely ice is an important part of
what we do and you know that the counter
solution would be to have no no borders
at all or like my opponents party has
proposed get rid of ice and support
sanctuary cities and that's not common
sense I don't have the opponents party
here but I have your opponent it's just
another example just to respond to where
I am a different person than this sort
of stereotype that mr. Bishop likes to
put out there of every Democrat whether
he's talking about Pelosi whether he's
talking about my party as someone who
served her country let me say
unequivocally that I believe ice should
exist and should continue to fill out to
carry out its mandate just like any
other service and border force hood and
we're not all the same we're very
different people and as much as he'd
like it to be the opposite in terms of
immigration listen
system is broken right we can be clear
on that an immigration is a national
security issue it is an economic issue
and it's a moral issue right I served in
my entire life trying to protect this
country from attacks homeland attacks so
I feel very strongly that we need to
enhance security at our borders in a
wall
I don't believe a wall makes sense but
more technology and more border agents
yes when we come back I'm gonna let you
but we talked about some of the vitriol
in the campaign and why don't you both
respond to ads that have been running
against you both and see what you have
to say about that as we continue this
conversation with Alisa Slaton and Mike
Bishop this is flashpoint before
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