New war of words in Illinois' race for governor

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is a new war of words in the race for Illinois governor, as Thursday's heated words targeted assault weapons, the controversy surrounding Governor Pat Quinn's anti-violence program and the authenticity of Republican candidate Bruce Rauner's political ads.

Thursday's Quinn-Rauner back and forth had more than the usual drama, including an ambulance call to the governor's campaign event on the West Side.

As the governor was introduced, one of the children standing with him fainted. Pat Quinn held the boy's hand until paramedics arrived.

"It's very important that his life and his good health be protected," Quinn said.

And that's how the governor segued to his latest attack on Republican Bruce Rauner, whose view on assault weapons is featured in a Quinn internet ad.

"Bruce Rauner, when is it appropriate for somebody to use assault weapons?" the ad asks. "It's up to the owner, on their property as they choose fit," Rauner responds.

"Do folks here agree with that? Do you agree with that, at all? I don't agree with that," said Quinn

In a statement, Rauner's campaign called Quinn's anti-crime policies "disastrous. He has turned an anti-violence program into a political slush fund that is now under local and federal investigation."

On that investigation, the governor was asked about e-mails that appear to prove that politics were a consideration in 2011, when Quinn aides decided which groups received anti-violence grants in west suburban Maywood.

"The people who were involved in that program are no longer working for me. I don't agree with that in any way," Quinn said.

And the governor was asked about the newest Rauner television ad, with allegedly fabricated headlines, some that never appeared in actual publications.

"Pay to play... a criminal probe... another governor under investigation," Rauner's ad says.

"I think for candidates to run clearly false, made up headlines, is just plain wrong," said Quinn.

The Rauner campaign says the ad does not claim everything on the screen is an actual headline and insists all the information in the commercial is accurate.

The 15-year-old boy who fainted was treated and released from a nearby hospital. The Quinn campaign says the teenager was diagnosed as being dehydrated.