On the Record: Nickel, Hines seek to present themselves as middle-of-the-road candidates battling for voters in a toss-up district

It's time to go on the record with WRL neighbors

One of the most closely watched us house races in

the country is in our area

North Carolina's newly drawn 13th district tonight we'll sit down

with the candidates hoping to earn your vote

Good evening and thanks for being with us

I'm Lena Tillett alongside our capital bureau chief Laura Leslie

Tonight the competitive 13th district includes johnston in parts of

Wake Wayne and Harnett County's

It contains both suburban and rural communities the Triangle and

the Sandhills and yes democrats and republicans

Democratic state Senator Wiley nickel is taking on Republican political

newcomer bo Hines and we are going to hear from

both candidates separately tonight

This is not a debate

We want to share about tonight's format with you so

to determine which candidate you heard from first

Just before this broadcast we had a coin toss old

school senator nickel one and decided to go second

We should also point out we have not shared the

questions with either campaign and they will not hear one

another's answers during today's taping they will have an equal

amount of time to respond

Now let's begin with our first candidate bo Hines is

a political newcomer looking to help republicans retake control of

Congress

He played football for one season at north Carolina state

before transferring to Yale university to hone in on his

passion for politics

Hines also worked for his father's license apparel company

He has steadily risen up the Republican party ranks

Speaking ahead of former president trump at a pair of

political rallies in north Carolina this year

Thanks so much for joining us tonight

Absolutely

So let's get started with our first question

You called abortion murder in an interview earlier this year

and you said you only support the procedure in the

case of where mother's life might be in danger

Are there any exceptions you do think are acceptable Well

there are certain exceptions

You can look at what happened to Ohio with a

10 year old girl in that instance

I think that's an absolute horrible tragedy or an exception

have to be made

But you know I'm pro life and I think my

position is much less radical than my opponent's position which

is really abortion all the way up to the point

of birth even post birth

I mean this is stuff that you know if you're

a pro choice democrat you know this is stuff

Usually you have a boundary that boundary might be heartbeat

might be 15 weeks

But I think most americans agree that we shouldn't be

allowing abortion all the way up to the point of

birth post birth abortion

Well you know Wiley was endorsed by the Progressive Caucus

he sought that endorsement and you know if there's an

abortion procedure that happens when the baby comes out and

is still alive

Many of that many in that caucus have said that

they would support allowing the baby to suffocate on the

table

I can't fact check that but we'll come back to

that

If elected

I wanted Would you support a federal law banning abortion

or limiting abortion Well it's a states rights issue at

this point

I don't think it's a federal issue

Obviously with the Dobbs decision it pushes the rights back

to the states

And you know this is a Raleigh decision not a

Washington decision

And just for clarity you mentioned the Ohio case

Are you saying that you do would accept an exception

for rape or incest in north Carolina I think in

certain cases yes

Obviously in a case like that where you know a

10 year old woman or a 10 year old girl

I should say obviously you should not be able to

go through with that pregnancy

I mean that's that that's something it's a horrific tragedy

that there has to be exceptions in place for

So is it more of the rape and the incest

or her age I guess Well I mean I think

it's a combination of both but you have to look

at each individual case and look at each individual circumstance

and see what happens there

I want to talk now about what you think is

causing high inflation in this country

I've heard you before point to government overspending and you've

specifically talked about the devaluing of the dollar as a

result of inflation

I wanted you to clarify that because the dollar's actual

value right now is the strongest

It's been in two decades

It's now more than the british pound

It's on par with the euro for the first time

in a very long time

So what do you mean that the dollar is losing

value Well this has to deal with the global economy

As we continue to blow our budget out in the

US Congress we continue to overspend and continue to give

more money to the over bloated government bureaucracies

This does undermine the value of the dollar

Over time it makes purchasing power go down

It impacts every single day Americans when they go to

the gas pump when they go to the grocery stores

and look they are hurting right now with 8.3% inflation

That is the equivalent of one month salary for the

average American

I know in my household my wife and I can't

afford to give up one month salary

We have bills to pay we have rent to pay

You know this is something that's hurting people every single

day

And their number one priority is the economy

They have to be able to afford their everyday needs

And that's something we have to address immediately in the

next Congress

And part of that is making sure we reign in

over bloated government spending what concrete actions would you take

in Congress if elected to reduce costs for North Carolinian

Well the first thing we have to do is pass

a balanced budget amendment

We haven't done this since 1994 when Newt Gingrich was

speaker of the house

I mean now we have to look at where we

are and just look at how much you know billions

and trillions of dollars were pouring into this government bureaucracy

were pouring into nations across the globe

A lot of these things do nothing to benefit the

American people

We need to make sure just like us everyday Americans

have to balance our checkbooks

Congress have to balance their checkbook as well

Okay so you've celebrated being endorsed by former president trump

Obviously you were just with him I guess a couple

weeks ago and members of Congress like Madison cawthorn matt

gates and marjorie taylor greene representatives who are let's face

it polarizing figures in politics

You've been compared to them by your opponent

How would you be different from them Well you know

I don't I don't have any intention on being a

cell Celebrity politician

I want to work for the people of North Carolina's

13th district

The first thing I do if I have the privilege

to serve them in the US Congress is I would

put a sign on my door that says this district

belongs to the people of North Carolina's 13th and you

know we have to make sure that we have politicians

that are there to get things done

Not there just to be show horses but workhorses and

that's what I plan to be for our folks in

this community

Do you feel like those representatives are not getting things

done well you know in certain cases I'd like to

see a lot more activity involved but the reality is

we don't have the majority in Congress right now

So there's not much they can do

They're blocked by democrats almost tooth and nail on every

single piece of agenda or piece of policy they attempt

to push right now

But there's a strong likelihood that that might change in

the fall elections

There's certainly a lot of people who think that it

might happen if that happens

What can we expect to see from you Well you

know there's a lot of different things we need to

address

The economy

Being one reining in inflation

I think two is securing our border

Every single district

The United States is now a border district as drugs

continue to flow over the southern border into our communities

impacting the lives of people in very dramatic ways

I mean we've had more death by distribution charges in

this area I think than ever before now

We have we have drug dealers on the loose

We have drugs flowing into our communities fentaNYL is ruining

community across this country including here in North Carolina's 13th

district and that flows back to the border

We have to make sure that border secure

We have to make sure that people can immigrate here

legally and lawfully and we welcome that but we do

not need millions of illegal migrants flowing over our southern

border into our communities even here in north Carolina

Let's talk about immigration because you have called for a

10 year ban on immigration and I want to understand

who's included in that ban

Are you talking about asylum seekers or people who are

here on work visas who are trying to get citizenship

to this country who's included in that ban So you

know our visa workers to be protected

Our farmers rely on H two A workers H two

B workers

I mean these are people that come here

They work really hard

They contribute to our community in a positive way

They go back home and obviously the money they make

they're really helps them care for their families

But in reality I think that our immigration system is

so broken right now I wouldn't call it a band

I'd call it a moratorium

You know we have to make sure our borders secure

with To make sure we can properly vet people before

they come into our country to make sure we know

who these people are

And once we do that I think that we can

actually have a successful immigration system that allows for diverse

immigration processes granting amnesty to 12 million people United States

and letting people flow here from basically central and South

America that's not diverse immigration

I want to welcome people from across the globe from

all different nations and want to contribute and assimilate here

and they just want to be hardworking Americans that love

our country and we welcome those people

Yeah

What do you mean by not diverse immigration Do you

think that that's too many people from central America We

should have people from say where else Well you know

I think we need to welcome people from across the

globe and I think it makes us it makes it

harder in the United States to do that

You know when we have millions people flowing from 11

part of the world you know I want to see

people I want to see people from Africa

I want to see people from europe

I want to see people from all different all different

areas of the globe come here that want to be

hardworking americans love our country you know want a better

opportunity at life

But you know when we allow millions of migrants to

flow from one part of the world it just restricts

our ability to do that

People from europe and Africa are also held up right

now at the southern border

What do you think needs to be done in Congress

to make sure that it's a more efficient process there

at the border

We have to shut it down first

Like I said we have to make sure we can

properly vet people

And I think that takes a lot more resources there

at the southern border which you know we don't have

right now and we've talked about securing it

We've talked about a lot of different processes for decades

at a time

And really we haven't seen the action there

So I think that providing ice providing our border patrol

with every single resource available to make sure one they're

protected into they can protect our communities is what needs

to happen immediately from Congress

But what you're talking about a moratorium a 10 year

moratorium it's unclear whether you're also talking about your H

one B visas and as you know you know the

triangle is a huge community here and we rely a

lot on immigrant immigrant workers coming from other countries to

supply the labor that our employers are having a hard

time finding in the open market a moratorium might make

it more difficult for them to hire the talent that

they need from other countries

So how would you balance that I mean I just

said I would exclude visa workers in that in that

program

So can you explain to me how that would make

it harder for them to come here I don't think

it would change because we're talking about the border

And I'm thinking well that's not really the border exactly

But um so you do agree that there's um that

the government has a sufficient mechanisms in place to vet

those workers sure workers that are coming here

Absolute

I mean our farmers have had you know a lot

of the same workers coming here for 20 years at

the time

These people have become part of their families

I think that's that's incredible

They did great work for our community

You know everyone in United States loves to eat and

those workers do a lot to make sure we can

put food on the table for our families

Let's talk about foreign policy with the time that we

have left

How what do you think of the United States current

support of Ukraine both militarily and monetarily Do you think

it's sufficient Well you know I think Russia is a

tremendous foreign adversary and we have to do everything we

can to push back on them

I mean obviously this is an egregious abuse of power

from a country that's marching in you know to to

a country that has a right to exist you know

and we should protect them

But honestly what I have to tell you As well

as that we need to do everything we can to

protect the American people first and then we can start

looking globally

You know I think that we've neglected people here at

home

Our economy is in shambles and we need to make

sure that's corrected before we start looking at putting more

money into defending Ukraine

You think enough has been done in terms of aid

at this point

I think it's sufficient but we have to see what

continues to happen

Obviously Vladimir Putin is calling up

I think 300,000 new soldiers I mean we just have

to watch how the process develops

The present

Ukraine has said that the money and the military aid

is why they've been able to successfully push back on

Russian forces in recent weeks

Would that hurt them then in that process You know

I'm not sure

I think that our allies across the globe also need

to step up and contribute in a meaningful way

They understand that a lot of times they can put

the bill on the United States and there's no ramifications

for that

We need to make sure we're getting the most out

of our allies across the globe and fighting these adversaries

Oh Heinz thank you so much for your time this

evening

Thank you so much for having me

Best of luck up next

We'll be back with Wiley nickel

Stay with us

Welcome back to this election special

We are now meeting our second candidate state senator Wiley

nickel north Carolina

State Senator Wiley nickel is a criminal defense attorney who

lives in Kerry

He's been in elected office in north Carolina since 2019

He previously worked for two White House administrations first under

former Vice President Al Gore and then former President Barack

Obama

He's seeking to help democrats retain control in the U

S

House Senator Nicole thank you so much for your time

this evening as well

I want to begin talking about abortion access It's now

obviously up to states to decide after roe is overturned

this summer

Do you think the government has any role to play

in where and when women can access abortion Yeah of

course

You know

And the question of course is who draws the lines

you know for for how we do that

And I believe women and doctors should be the ones

who make those decisions

As a state senator I've always supported a woman's right

to choose

And I'm hopeful that when I get elected to Congress

the first bill that I will vote for will be

a bill to put the protections of roe v wade

into federal law

And in this race there is a huge choice

My opponent says he wants to ban abortion with no

exceptions literally a death sentence for many women

I have to follow up on that

Okay so you're saying the government's role in where when

and where when women can have abortions should be protecting

that right We're talking about specifically is there a line

at which the government should step in to protect the

fetus It should be it should be women and doctors

who make that decision about where the lion goes Not

politicians in Washington

These are decisions that are deeply personal and they should

be taken out of this political space

Women and doctors are the ones who should decide

Uh we were just talking with your opponent before

And he said that you had been endorsed by a

caucus that believes in post birth abortion

Can you respond to that That's a lie

It's not a thing

Of course that's that's not something I support

You know um the position I've had has always been

clear

I support putting the protections of roe v wade into

federal law

So prices are obviously punishingly high right now for families

particularly people on fixed incomes or seniors working families as

well

And democrats are being blamed right now for just not

doing enough to stem the rise of these prices

What concrete action can you take in Congress to bring

down prices for north Carolinians I'm glad you asked

Because you know Washington just is not working for north

Carolina families

We've got to bring down the cost

We're talking about the cost of housing the cost of

health care the cost of your groceries

But we have solutions to those problems

And I brought it with me here today gave you

a copy of it

This is a 30 point inflation action plan

These are a number of things we can do to

help bring down those costs because people are suffering and

they need people in Washington willing to work across the

aisle to do what's right for north Carolina

So you know what that means specifically is bolstering our

supply chain investing in us manufacturing and cracking down on

corporations who are price gouging at the pump

Do you think And I would encourage folks they can

see this all on our website Wiley Nichols this time

I want to make sure we use it as best

we can

Republicans have specifically pointed to government overspending

We know we saw stimulus checks go out under both

the trump administration and the biden administration

And economists do you think that they that may have

contributed to inflation So what role do you think that

the biden administration has played in rising costs You know

I think the inflation reduction act is a good place

to start because that's gonna bring down the deficit and

the debt

You know that there were putting money towards that

We've got to control our spending

We're spending far too much

That's that's a problem like you said that's that's a

bipartisan problem You know Democratic administrations and republican administration has

been spending far too much in Washington and that's that's

a real problem

But for me you know I'm someone who's running as

a moderate

The group I will be caucusing with is the Blue

Dog democrats who stand for a strong national defense and

fiscal responsibility

Those are the values I'm gonna take with me

When I go to Washington I kind of have to

ask this question

You're talking about controlling spending

Are you talking about cutting spending Are there areas of

the budget that you think are right for cutting

I mean the place I'd like to cut is the

amount of money we pay for our debt

But I think it's a balanced approach

We got to talk about you know the revenue and

the spending side

And for me that means leveling the playing field for

working families and making sure that corporations and the wealthy

pay their fair share

So we've got to do both things and and we

can

So you were just talking about being a moderate in

your ads

That is how you portray yourself of course

But in a state Senate I've covered you for a

long time and you've often voted to the left of

your caucus

Why should voters think that you will be more in

the middle when you go to Washington I think first

of all in this race I'm the moderate

By far my opponent is a far right extremist

You know he's he's campaigning to the right of Madison

cawthorn

So so on that level

You know I think you need to make that point

But in Washington it's very different

You know in north Carolina we don't spend enough

We don't spend enough for our teachers

We don't spend enough on health care

In Washington

We're spending far too much

So you know we've got to balance our budget every

single year in north Carolina

That's a good thing in Washington

We don't let's talk about the border

Obviously the biden administration taking a beating as well on

this issue

There have been a record two million encounters at the

southern border this year

And there are also two million pending immigration cases for

the people who right now are trying to seek asylum

and frankly many of them doing it the right way

But there aren't enough courts and there aren't enough judges

to see all of these cases

So what should Congress do to respond to this crisis

I mean I think it's it's two things

Number one we've got to support border security

I support efforts to secure our border but we've got

to make sure that we have due process rights for

everyone and we treat people compassionately at the border

So I think there's a rule to do both

And in Congress you know we we need to fix

a broken immigration system

And and on this issue especially there is a huge

difference

You know my opponent who you just talked to said

the first thing he wants to do in Congress is

put a 10 year moratorium on all immigration that would

literally wreck our economy

We need folks willing to solve problems in Washington not

play partisan games

So we hear a lot about we're gonna fix migration

migration

Immigration is broken

What are some steps that you think need to be

taken to fix immigration We gotta be talking about expanding

the amount of people who can come here legally through

the visa system

There's a huge backlog

We've got to fix

You know we need to have comprehensive immigration reform you

know and and the triangle especially we're talking about skilled

labor

It ought to be just as simple as if you

get an advanced degree in the US you get you

know a green card with your diploma so we can

keep the best and brightest here helping our economy

But what about those that are not skilled I'm thinking

about the asylum seekers and you know as we've pointed

out I mean it is people from Central America but

it's also people coming from other places like Haiti and

Africa and europe that are actually coming across our southern

border as well

You know what needs to be done in Congress to

to try to fix that problem I mean there's a

number of things we can do to secure our border

you know without resorting to a physical wall and and

you know I certainly support all efforts to secure the

border number one

That's you know I think we need to continue to

say that and you know and make sure that we

have an orderly process you know for for people who

have a legitimate claim

All right let's talk about foreign policy

I want to talk about the support that we have

seen already from Congress and from the bad administration for

Ukraine

Um do you think that there is a limit to

how much the U

S

Government should be supporting Ukraine with military aid or with

money

I mean I think we're on a really good path

The US is you know put together a broad international

coalition

We're seeing results in Ukraine right now we've got to

stand up for democracy and stand against Putin's you know

invasion of Ukraine

So I think we're doing the right thing there and

we're seeing results

Um and and and what what I think is really

wonderful too about the success we're having there is you

know we've got Seymour johnson in this congressional district and

we've got you know folks you know fighter pilots they're

supporting this mission

So this is something where folks in this district are

helping as well

Do you feel like the United States should be more

involved in Ukraine's defense I think we're got just the

right amount of international support right now

And I think you're seeing you know Putin is is

on his heels here

We've you know you were just talking about controlling spending

a little while ago you know we've heard calls from

some on the right and center left actually that you

know that the writing of check after check after check

to Ukraine for weapons and for support um is it's

becoming a burden on the U

S

Economy How do you how do you reconcile those two

things I think I think the real burden on our

economy is if Vladimir Putin is allowed to do whatever

he wants across the globe

We're gonna be having to deal with this issue all

over the world if we don't stop this attack on

democracy here and the international coalition that we've built has

done a great job at making sure that you know

everyone knows that you know if you go and attack

a democracy like Ukraine the international community is gonna respond

one of the issues that we have seen as a

priority for families is education and the learning loss that

happen during the pandemic

What would you do specifically in Congress You have Children

I know this is something that you care about as

well to try to make up some of those losses

How can you help the Department of Education What can

you do specifically in Congress to help families number one

you know as a state senator this has been a

big price

We've got to invest in public education

We're not doing nearly enough

One of the issues that I've championed as a senator

isn't getting universal pre K

We we ought to have two years of Universal pre

K

That would do so much to bring down the cost

for childcare for for many families

So that's one of my biggest priorities is making sure

we make that investment because when you do you get

much better out comes educational outcomes later on

All right Senator nickel thank you so much for your

time

Best of luck to you as well

Thanks so much for having me

Alright we'll be right back

a special thank you to both candidates for joining us

in studio for this conversation

Election Day is november 8th

And WRL is your headquarters for everything you need to

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The WRL voter guide is up and ready for you

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You can also see Laura Leslie's brand new segment really

really interesting behind the scenes

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C

Votes 101

And so what the idea is is we want viewers

to let us know what their questions are about the

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Show folks what happens behind the scenes on Election Day

so that people understand exactly how this all works and

you know so we'd love to have your suggestions

You can find a place to send them to us

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Thanks so much for joining us

Have a good night