Transcripts For CNNW CNN Flint MI Democratic Debate 20160307

[ cheers and applause ] please welcome former secretary of state hillary clinton. [ cheers and applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the Democratic Candidates for president of the United States [ cheers and applause ] before we begin tonight, we want to take a moment to remember former first lady nancy reagan. As you probably know she passed away this morning at the age of 94. Her grace and elegance in the white house, her deep love for president reagan, and her strength and advocacy in the fight against alzheimers and drug abuse will always be remembered. We would like to pause for a moment of silence in honor of mrs. Reagan. And now will you please rise for the National Anthem performed by the flint citywide choir conducted by darnell ishmael. Oh, say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the home of the brave [ applause ] our thanks to the first citywide choir. Candidates, please take your positions behind the podium. Before we begin as the candidates take their positions, i want to set out ground rules. As moderators, ill ask questions, ill ask followups and guide the discussion. The candidates will have one minute and 15 seconds to answer questions. Theyll have 30 seconds for followups. Cnns don lemon will join me in the questioning, as will members of our audience here tonight. They are democrats and independents from flint and elsewhere in michigan. We reviewed questions so they dont overlap. Now, weve come to flint because this is a city in crisis. A city where, as you probably know, the tap water is toxic. Public servants, Public Institutions not only failed to prevent the crisis, their decisions created this crisis. The state of michigan in an effort to save money switched flints water source to a cheaper but riskier alternative, the flint river. Safeguards were ignored. That river water corroded residential pipes and for nearly two years lead leaked into the water used in peoples homes. For much of that time the state downplayed the danger even in the face of growing complaints and physical evidence. For 100 days the federal government knew about it and yet in all that time nobody told the people of flint. They bathed in the water, they drank it, and so did their kids. Even today lead is still present in some of the water. Tonight the Democratic Candidates are here to answer questions about what they would do for flint as well as about other issues facing the country right now. Each candidate has one minute for an opening statement. Senator sanders is first. We begin with him. Senator sanders . Anderson, thank you very much. Over the last several weeks i had the opportunity to meet with a number of residents of flint, had a town meeting in flint, and i have to tell you, what i heard and what i saw literally shattered me and it was beyond belief that children in flint, michigan, in the United States of america in the year 2016 are being poisoned. That is clearly not what this country should be about. As anderson indicated, there is a lot of blame to go around. And one of the points that i have made is i believe the governor of this state should understand that his dereliction of duty was irresponsible. He should resign. [ applause ] but more importantly, what is happening in flint to a lesser degree is happening throughout this country. In recent years, we have seen a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires and increase in income in wealth inequality and all over this country middle class families are struggling, cities and towns are struggling in order to provide basic services. Among many other things, we need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, our Water Systems, our wastewater plants, our roads and our bridges. The wealthiest country in the history of the world has got to get its priorities right, take care of the people, no more tax breaks for billionaires. Thank you, senator. [ applause ] secretary clinton. I will start by saying amen to that. We are here in flint. I am very grateful that my request that we hold this debate be held here so we can continue to shine a very bright spotlight on what has happened in this city. I agree, the governor should resign or be recalled, and we should [ applause ] support the efforts of citizens attempting to achieve that. But that is not enough. We have to focus on what must be done to help the people of flint. I support 100 the efforts by your senators and members of congress to get the money from the federal government in order to begin the work that must occur to fix the infrastructure. The state should also be sending money immediately to help this city [ applause ] i know the state of michigan has a Rainy Day Fund for emergencies. What is more important than the health and wellbeing of the people, particularly children . It is raining lead in flint. And the state is derelict in not coming forward with the money that is required. Secretary clinton and well get to what we need to do to help the children and the people when i have a little more time because thats just as important as fixing the pipes. Were going to have a lot of time for that. We want to begin tonight with the people of flint themselves. This is mickey wade. Shes a Public Housing Program Manager and the mother of two kids. She says shes currently undecided and has a question that both of you will be able to weigh in on. Miss wade . The water has impacted our lives in such a way that living comfortably in our home isnt the same anymore. The constant drives to pick up water just so my children can wash their hair, to wash fruits and vegetables, and to brush our teeth is incredibly difficult. Once the pipes are replaced, im not for sure if i will be comfortable ever drinking the water. If elected president , what course will you take to regain my trust in the government . Secretary clinton . Well begin with you. Well, mikki, its a very fair question because your government at all levels have let you and your children and the people of flint down. So i think there are several things. All the repair work that is being done and mayor weaver announced a program that we support to begin to help train people in flint to be able to do some of this work, to distribute the water. Everything that is done has to be triplechecked to regain your trust. And to hold those who are responsible for fixing the pipes and delivering the clean water which as you said you bathe in it, you drink it, you wash food in it. You do everything with it. Every one of us should have to just run through in our minds how we use water every single day to understand the pressures and the real pain that families are going through. So i will make sure as president that i double and triple check. I will work with elected officials who i trust like your mayor, like your senators, like your member of congress, so that we can assure you that when its fixed you can trust it. You deserve nothing less. Secretary clinton, let me follow up with you on that. The people here, they still cant drink the water in their own homes as you well know. They cant bathe their kids in the water here. And they are desperate for accountability and specifics. As president can you give any specific about what you could do if you were president that would make ms. Wades life better and life better for people here . I support what president obama is doing. He called for and got accountability from officials at the epa, who should have done more to make sure the state was doing its job. He has expanded medicaid to begin the process of helping kids particularly get the health care they need. Hes also ordered that there be a head start program. I support that. When it comes to the water itself, we are supporting a program that mayor weaver announced today, flint waterworks, to actually pay people in flint, not outsiders, people here to deliver the water while we are fixing the pipes. And i would do even more of that. As president , what we were able to put together was a beginning. As president i would concentrate resources on this city for Economic Development for more jobs as we fix the water and provide the health and education interventions that children need. Senator sanders . For miss wade specific. What is going on is a disgrace beyond belief. As president of the United States this is what i would do. Is if local government does not have the resources, if State Government for whatever reason refuses to act, children in america should not be poisoned, federal government comes in, federal government acts. [ applause ] what is absolutely incredible to me is that water rates have soared in flint. You are paying three times more for poison water than i am paying in burlington, vermont for clean water. First thing you do is you say people are not paying a water bill for poison water. [ applause ] and that is retroactive. Second of all, to ease anxiety, cdc has got to come in here and examine every child and adult in this community in terms of the amount of lead they may have. [ applause ] thirdly, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world we have got to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, our Water Systems. Ive got a bill for a trillion dollars. Creates 13 million jobs. Rebuilding flint, michigan and communities all over this country. Thank you, senator. [ applause ] were going to have more on infrastructure shortly but i want to follow up with you. This crisis in flint as you know, as everybody in this room knows, was created by the government. Your policies are about expanding government. Why should people from flint trust that more government is the answer . Well, thats a good point, anderson. I suppose they can trust the corporations who have destroyed flint by a disastrous trade policy which have allowed them to shut down plants in flint and move to china and mexico. We can trust them, im sure. [ applause ] or maybe, anderson, maybe we should let wall street come in and run the city of flint. Because we know their honesty and integrity has done so much for the American People. Look, we live in a democracy. And im the last person to deny the government is failing in many respects. But at the end of the day i will trust the people to create a government that works for them rather than wall street or Corporate America. [ applause ] secretary clinton, youve now both called for the governor to resign. I believe thats new for you. Previously you had not called for that. But youre calling for that tonight. Its easy to blamt republican governor, rick snyder. But the federal government also dropped the ball here. According to section 1414 of the Safe Drinking Water act, the epa has to step in and take action when a state is informed about water problems and doesnt do anything for 30 days, as the state here didnt do. The epa knew for months and months, never warned the people of flint not to drink the water. As president would you fire the head of the epa . Well, i think that the people here in the region who knew about this and failed to follow what you just said rightly, the law required, have been eliminated from the epa. So far one person has resigned. Well, i dont know how high it goes. I would certainly be launching an investigation. I think there is one. I was told some of higherups were pushing to get changes that were not happening. So i would have a full investigation, determine who knew what when, and yes, people should be fired. How far up it went, i dont know. But as far as it goes, they should be relieved. Because they failed this city. But let me just add this, anderson. This is not the only place where this kind of action is needed. We have a lot of communities right now in our country where the level of toxins in the water including lead are way above what anybody should tolerate. We have a higher rate of tested lead in people in cleveland than in flint. So im not satisfied with just doing everything we must do for flint. I want to tackle this problem across the board. And if people know about it and they are not acting and they are in the government at any level, they should be forced to resign. Senator sanders, would a president sanders fire the head of the epa . President sanders would fire anybody who knew about what was happening and did not act appropriately. [ applause ] and president sanders would make the point that how does it happen in the wealthiest country in the history of the world . What are our priorities when, among others, republicans today are fighting for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthiest people . How did we have so much money available to go to war in iraq and spend trillions of dollars, but somehow not have enough money not just for flint the secretary is right. There are communities all over this country. Its not just infrastructure. It is education. Detroits Public School system is collapsing. Thank you, senator. Anderson, the bottom line is and what my campaign is is changing our national priorities. We need a government that works for all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors. I want to go to lee ann walters, one of the first people to report problems with the water in flint. One of her twin boys stopped growing. Her daughter lost her hair. She said shes undecided and has a question for both of you to answer. But well start with senator sanders. Ms. Walters . After my family, the city of flint and the children of d. C. Were poisoned by lead, will you make a personal promise to me right now that as president in your first 100 days in office you will make it a requirement that all public Water Systems must remove all lead Service Lines throughout the entire United States and notification made to the citizens that have said Service Lines . I will make a personal promise to you that the epa and the epa director that i appoint will make sure that every water system in the United States of america is tested and that the people of those communities know the quality of the water that theyre drinking and that we are going to have a plan to rebuild Water Systems in this country that are unsafe for drinking. Let me just point out for accuracys sake, there are 10 million lead Service Pipes delivering water to people all across this country tonight. Secretary clinton . Well, i agree completely. I want to go further, though. I want us to have an absolute commitment to getting rid of lead wherever it is. Because its not only in Water Systems. Its also in soil and its in lead paint that is found mostly in older homes. Thats why 500,000 children today have lead in their bodies. So i want to do exactly what you said. We will commit to a priority to change the Water Systems and we will commit within five years to remove lead from everywhere. We were making progress on this in the 1990s. I worked with then senator obama to get more money, more support to do more to remove lead. That has unfortunately been in many ways moved to a lower priority. I will elevate it and i will do everything i can. Water, soil, and paint. Were going to get rid of it. Thank you, secretary. I want to go to my colleague don lemon. Anderson, thank you very much. Secretary clinton, you called for the resignation of Governor Snyder or for him to be recalled. There are residents who want to see criminal charges brought against those who are responsible. Do you think people should go to jail . Well, thats going to be up to the legal system, don. I cant standing here i dont have all the facts. But people should be held accountable wherever that leads. If it leads to resignation or recall if youre in political office, if it leads to civil penalties, if it leads to criminal responsibility, there has to be an absolute accountability and i will support whatever the outcome of those investigations are. Senator sanders, do you think people should go to jail . Well, i agree. We cant sit up here, i cant sit up here and make judgment over whether or not somebody committed a criminal act. But i will tell you this. That after an investigation if people in fact were found to have committed a criminal act i talked to a mother. Imagine this for a second. A mother who had a bright 7yearold gregarious girl doing well in school. Two years later that child is now in special education. Intellectual capability significantly deteriorated. That is a crime against that child and the people of flint, and clearly people are going to have to be held accountable. Thank you, senator. Thank you, secretary. I want to turn to brent nicholls, editor of the flint journal, hes our local partner in this debate and he has our next question. Bryn . Secretary clinton, it took this water crisis for politicians like yourselves to notice we are a city in trouble. Youve only both recently started talking about flint, holding Campaign Events here in just the past few weeks. Secretary clinton, you even made the crisis the centerpiece of a new campaign ad. Why should the people of flint believe that you arent just using this crisis to score political points . Well, i think because throughout my throughout my public career i have been evening the odds for people in every way i could. I started out with the Childrens Defense Fund and worked throughout my time as a young lawyer, as a person and activist, certainly in arkansas, then in the white house, to try to fix problems wherever i saw them. And this problem is one that is particularly outrageous and painful at the same time. So when i heard about it, i immediately sent people here to find out what was going on. It was almost unbelievable. We had this problem in other places, but we dont say it was actually caused by decisions made by Public Officials in positions of authority as this one was. Then when i talked to the mayor i basically said, what can i do to help . Then when i came here and i met with some of the mothers and met their children and heard their stories, im just determined to do whatever i can. So i have put together resources from the private and philanthropic communities to help provide a bridge because youve got to get the federal money. Youve got to get the state money. But im going to do everything i can. And i will be with flint all the way through this crisis in whatever capacity i am. And if im president it will always be a priority for action from me. [ applause ] bryn has a followup. Senator sanders, what about you . Your first visit to flint as a president ial candidate was just over a week ago. Thats almost five months after the people here were told to stop drinking the water. What took you so long . Well, first of all, thats not quite accurate. I was here long before that. And ill tell you what i did. What i did is meet very quietly in detroit with parents and others who were impacted by this disaster. And the second thing that i did is hold a town meeting, which was as nonpolitical as i could make it, for hundreds of people to tell me and the world through the media exactly what was happening here in flint. I think the fear and the legitimate fear of the people of flint is that at a certain point the tv cameras and cnn is going to disappear. And then [ applause ] and then people are going to be left struggling in order to live in a safe and healthy community. All i can say is if you check my record going back a long time, i have stood with those who are hurting. I have stood with those who have no money. And i have taken on virtually every powerful special interest in the United States of america. Thats my record and im proud of it. Thank you, senator. [ applause ] this city is also facing a jobs crisis. 75 of flints manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last 25 years. In about the same amount of time michigan has lost 230,000 manufacturing jobs. I want to go to tanisha martin. She grew up here in flint but she now works in detroit at the shinola watch factory which you know is often held up as the blueprint for how to save american industry jobs. She said shes leaning toward secretary clinton, and she has a question for her. A lot of members of my family worked in the Auto Industry here in flint. Thats ultimately what i wanted to do once i got out of school. But unfortunately i was unable to get any one of the big three. And thats why i now reside at shinola. If you are elected president , what are you going to do to convince factories to keep the jobs here in the United States instead of sending them overseas to other countries . Im going to do what i think will work, which is both carrots and sticks. Let me talk about the carrots. Were going to have a very clear set of proposals and incentives for manufacturing so that we change the way that Companies Think about making investments again in america. I have a comprehensive manufacturing plan that i will be implementing. Were also going to invest more in infrastructure, as we both have said. Its woefully underresourced. That will put a lot of people to work. I want to do more to help Small Businesses. They are the source of 2 3 of our jobs. Weve got to help them start and grow, particularly minority and womenowned Small Businesses. We need to do more to help create clean energy as a source of good jobs. But im also going to go after companies. You know, when a company decides to leave, like nabisco is leaving, and theyve gotten tax benefits from chicago and illinois to stay there, im going to claw back those benefits. Theyre going to have to pay them back if theyre leaving a place that actually invested in them. I am also going to go after Companies Like Johnson Controls in wisconsin. They came and got part of the bailout because they were an auto parts supplier. Now they want to move some of their headquarters to europe. They are going to have to pay an exit fee. Were going to stop this kind of job exporting and were going to start importing and growing jobs again in our country. Senator sanders, i will let you i am very glad, anderson, that secretary clinton has discovered religion on this issue. But its a little bit too late. Secretary clinton supported virtually every one of the disastrous trade agreements written by Corporate America [ applause ] nafta, supported by the secretary, cost us 800,000 jobs nationwide, tens of thousands of jobs in the midwest. Permanent normal trade relations with china cost us millions of jobs. Look, i was on a picket line in the early 1990s against nafta because you didnt need a ph. D. In economics to understand that American Workers should not be forced to compete against people in mexico making 25 cents an hour. [ applause ] and the reason that i was one of the first, not one of the last to be in opposition to the tpp is that American Workers should not be forced to compete against people in vietnam today making a minimum wage of 65 cents an hour. Look, what we have got to do is tell Corporate America that they cannot continue to shut down. Weve lost 60,000 factories since 2001. They are going to start having to if im president invest in this country, not in china, not in mexico. Secretary clinton . [ applause ] well, i will tell you Something Else that senator sanders was against. He was against the auto bailout. In january of 2009, president elect obama asked everybody in the congress to vote for the bailout. The money was there and had to be released in order to save the american Auto Industry and 4 million jobs and to begin the restructuring. We just had the best year that the Auto Industry has had in a long time. I voted to save the Auto Industry. He voted against the money that ended up saving the Auto Industry. [ applause ] i think that is a pretty big difference. Well, if you are talking about the wall street bailout where some of your friends destroyed this economy you know excuse me, im talking. Let him respond. If you are going to talk, tell the whole story, senator sanders. Let me tell my story, you tell yours. I will. Your story is voting for every disastrous trade agreement and voting for Corporate America. Did i vote against the wall street bailout when billionaires on wall street destroyed this economy, they went to congress and they said oh, please, well be good boys, bail us out. You know what i said . I said let the billionaires themselves bail out wall street. It shouldnt be the middle class of this country. Okay. Secretary clinton. Wait a minute. Could i finish . Youll have your turn. All right. But ultimately, if you look at our records, i stood up to Corporate America time and time again. I went to mexico. I saw the lives of people who were working in american factories and making 25 cents an hour. I understood that these trade agreements were going to destroy the middle class of this country. I led the fight against us. That is one of the major differences that we have. Secretary clinton. If i could, to set the record straight, i voted against the only multinational trade agreement that came before me when i was in the senate. It was called cafta. I came out against the tpp. After it was finished i thought it was reasonable to actually know what was in it before i opposed it. I opposed it. Now, let me get back to what happened in january of 2009. The Bush Administration negotiated the deal. Were there things in it that i didnt like . Would i have done it differently . Absolutely. But was the auto bailout money in it . The 350 billion that was needed to begin the restructuring of the Auto Industry . Yes, it was. So when i talk about senator sanders being a oneissue candidate, i mean very clearly, you have to make hard choices when youre in positions of responsibility. The two senators from michigan stood on the floor and said we have to get this money released. I went with them and i went with barack obama. You did not. If everybody had voted the way he did, i believe the Auto Industry would have collapsed, taking 4 million jobs with it. [ applause ] senator sanders . I believe that the recklessness, the greed, and the illegal behavior of wall street drove this country into the worst economic downturn in the history of the modern history of the United States of america. And i will be damned if it was the working people of this country who had to bail out the crooks on wall street. What i proposed, and i had an amendment that was defeated by a voice vote on the floor of the senate that said, to those people on the top who benefitted from wall street greed, i said, you pay for the bailout. Dont go to my constituents who are struggling to make ends meet. In terms of the auto bailout, of course that made sense. In terms of the stimulus, of course that made sense and i strongly supported president obamas position on that. But let us be clear. One of the major issues secretary clinton said im a oneissue person. I guess so. My one issue is trying to rebuild a disappearing middle class. Thats my one issue. Senator sanders . [ applause ] all i can say is that given the terrible pressures that the Auto Industry was under and that the middle class of this state and ohio and indiana and illinois and wisconsin and missouri and other places in the midwest were facing, i think it was the right decision to heed what president elect obama asked us to do. He sent a letter, an authorized letter asking us to support that to save the Auto Industry. Yeah, were there things in it that you and i would not have necessarily wanted . Thats true. But when it came down to it, you were either for saving the Auto Industry or you were against it. I voted to save the Auto Industry. And i am very glad that i did. Let me say this. While were on wall street. One of us has a super pac. One of us has raised 15 million from wall street for that super pac. One of us has given speeches on wall street for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, i kind of think if you get paid a couple hundred thousand dollars for a speech, it must be a great speech. I think we should release it and let the American People see what that transcript was. [ applause ] let me and i have said and i will say again, i will be happy to release anything i have as long as everybody else does too. Because what really is behind that question, republicans and democrats, is whether i can stand up to wall street. Lets have some facts instead of some rhetoric for a change. I went to wall street when i was a United States senator. I told them they were wrecking the economy. I asked for a moratorium on foreclosures. I asked that we do more to try to prevent what i worried was going to happen. I also called for closing loopholes including the carried interest loophole. I also called for changes in ceo pay. I have a record. And you know what . If you were going to be in some way distrusted or dismissed about whether you can take on wall street if you ever took money, president obama took more money from wall street in the 2008 campaign than anybody ever had. And when it came time to stand up to wall street, he passed and signed the toughest regulation since the great depression. The doddfrank regulation. Senator sanders, just yesterday in fact you said i believe it was yesterday you said not only her speech must have been a fantastic speech, it must have been a shakespearean speech for that a money. Is her answer enough for you, that shell release it when all the republicans and democrats while i am your opponent, i release it. Here it is. There aint nothing. I dont give speeches to wall street for hundreds of thousands. You got it. Second of all, when we talk about being tough on wall street, and this really galls me and the American People. Recently Goldman Sachs among many other Financial Institutions on wall street as you know reached a settlement with the federal government for 5 billion because they were selling worthless packages of subprime mortgages. 5 billion settlement. You know how many executives on wall street have gone to jail . If youre a kid caught with marijuana in michigan, you get a police record. If you are an executive on wall street that destroys the american economy, you pay a 5 billion fine and no police record. If i am elected president , we will bring justice back to a broken criminal Justice System. [ applause ] secretary clinton . Well, i think we are in vigorous agreement on this. I have said repeatedly, no bank is too big to fail, no executive too powerful to jail, and i have said i would use the tools in the doddfrank regulations, that if any bank posed a Systemic Risk to the economy, they would be broken up. Because we now have tools, laws that we didnt have before. And i am very happy we did. Because there does need to be accountability, including criminal accountability if it is called for. Senator sanders, i just want to show the audience, you sent a tweet i want to return to trade. You sent a tweet on thursday. This is the tweet. Im showing it to the viewers. It said, the people of detroit know the real costs of Hillary Clintons free trade policies. P shows pictures of crumbling buildings. It seems like youre blaming her for the situation in detroit. I am blaming the trade policies. This is an amazing thing, which i didnt know until recently. I wonder how many people didnt know this. But youre calling them Hillary Clintons free trade policies. Hillary clinton and everybody else who supported these disastrous trade policies. She wasnt alone. We had many, many republicans and far too Many Democrats who supported these disastrous trade policies. [ applause ] do you know that in 1960 detroit, michigan was one of the wealthiest cities in america . Flint, michigan was a prosperous city. But then what happened is Corporate America said why do i want to pay somebody in michigan a living wage when i could pay slave wages in mexico or china . Were going to shut down, were going to move abroad. Were going to bring those products back into this country. Those trade policies as much as any other set of policies has resulted in the shrinking of the american middle class. I will tell you what else it did. Its not only job loss by the millions, its the race to the bottom so that new jobs in manufacturing in some cases today pay 50 less than they did 20 years ago. How stupid is that trade policy . [ applause ] secretary clinton . You know, if were going to argue about the 1990s instead of talking about the future, which i prefer because i think every election is about the future and you all deserve to know what we will do to help you have a brighter future, but if we are going to talk about the 1990s i think its only fair to say that at the end of the 1990s after two terms of my husbands presidency the Unemployment Rate in michigan was 4. 4 . There had been a net increase of 54,000 manufacturing jobs. There had been a net increase of 653,000 jobs overall. And one of the ways jobs were brought to and grown here in michigan was through something called the Exportimport Bank, which helped a lot of businesses, particularly Small Businesses, be able to export around the world. Senator sanders opposes that. I think we are in a race for exports. I think china, germany and everybody else supports their businesses. Here in michigan there has been 11 billion in recent years used to support exports. Primarily from Small Businesses. I favor that. Hes opposed it. I want to do everything i can for us to compete and win in the Global Economy as president. Senator sanders i just want to explain to viewers what the Exportimport Bank is in case everybody is not quite as wonkish as everybody on the stage here. Its a federal agency and gives loans to companies that export American Products. Senator sanders, you do oppose it. The vast majority of the banks customers are Small Businesses. 176 right here in michigan. What do you say to the Small Business owners who rely on the bank to make ill tell you what i say. Do you know what the other name of the Exportimport Bank is and what its called in washington . Its called the bank of boeing. Because boeing itself gets 40 of the money discharged by the Exportimport Bank. 75 of the funds going from the federal government and the Exportimport Bank goes to large profitable corporations. Many of these corporations have shut down in america and have gone abroad to exploit poor people. You know what . I dont think its a great idea for the american taxpayer to have to subsidize through corporate welfare profitable corporations who downsize in the United States of america. 75 of that money goes to large profitable corporations. Senator, you were the only member of the Democratic Caucus to vote against it. Youre agreeing with senator ted cruz on this. Why is he right and the democrats wrong . Well, let me tell you. I dont want to break the bad news. Democrats are not always right. Democrats have often supported corporate welfare. Democrats have supported disastrous trade agreements. But on this issue i do not believe in corporate welfare. In fact, secretary clinton may know or not know that as a member of the Financial Services committee, i worked hard and successfully to make sure that at least 20 of the money went to Small Businesses, which is where it should go, not to profitable corporations downsizing in our country. Secretary clinton . [ applause ] when i traveled around the world on your behalf as secretary of state and went to 112 countries, one thing i saw everywhere was how european and Asian Countries were supporting their Companies Back in their countries. To be able to make sales and contracts in a lot of the rest of the world. In fact, without the Exportimport Bank supporting businesses of all sizes, i believe more jobs would be lost here at home and more jobs literally would be exported. Instead of exporting products, we would be exporting jobs. I just believe that senator sanders took that lonely position because most of us who saw the results, i saw it as a senator from new york. Your senators saw it here in michigan. They can give you the names of the 240 companies in michigan that have been helped. There is a company in livonia that is being helped. Theres companies all over this state. And i know if were going to compete and win in the Global Economy, we cant let every other country support their companies and we take a handsoff approach. I will not agree with that. Im going to let you respond but i just want to push back on this. Senator sanders is correct. The majority of this money from this bank does go to boeing, Companies Like caterpillar. Do they need this money . I will tell you what, anderson. After i investigated it, i concluded that they did. And heres why. There are two big plane manufacturers in the world. Theres airbus, and theres boeing. Airbus does everything it can to get contracts to sell planes everywhere in the world. We dont have as quite an aggressive outreach from our government. I did go in many places around the world to sell American Products because the alternatives were usually european, asian, primarily chinese products. That to me was an unacceptable concession. So yes, boeing and other Big Companies get support just like their competitors do from the companies that they are from in the countries that provide the support. Thank you. Senator sanders . Isnt it tragic that these large multinational corporations making billions of dollars a year, shutting down in america, going to china, going to mexico, oh, absolutely they need a handout from the american middle class. I dont think so. Second of all second of all [ applause ] second of all, secretary clinton has traveled the world. Shes been to europe. And lets talk about europe versus the United States. I am sure that when you were in europe and france and germany and the uk and all of the other countries, you noticed something. And that is every one of those countries guarantees health care to all of their people as a right. [ applause ] and i am sure you know as i know you do that in countries like the uk compared to america, we are spending almost three times as much as they spend in the uk for health care for our people. We are spending 50 more than the french. When we talk about europe and their pluses and minuses, one thing they have done well that we should emulate, and that is guaranteed health care for all people through a medicare for all program. Thank you, senator sanders. Senator clinton, 30 seconds and i have to take a break. 30 seconds if you can. And we are on the path to doing that thanks to president obama and the Affordable Care act, we have 90 coverage. We are lacking 10 . [ applause ] were going to stay on that path and were going to get to 100 universal coverage. We have to take a break. Well continue this discussion. We have a lot more to talk about. Were going to take a short break. Well have more of the democratic president ial debate from flint, michigan when we come back. [ applause ] you can fly across welcome town in minutes16, or across the globe in under an hour. Whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites provide earth with unlimited clean power. In less than a century, boeing took the world from seaplanes to space planes, across the universe and beyond. And if you thought that was amazing, you just wait. Coming soon from progressive, its savin u, the new hit single from the dizzcounts. Cash money the Biggest Discount and understand. The dizzcounts. Safe driver, paperless, paidinfull, multicar and joey fatone. Savin you five hundred im savin you five hundred we have autotune, right . Oh, yeah. Thats a hit all yeah [ woman ] thanks. The dealership reviews on cars. Com made it easy, but. [ man ] we thought it might be a little more tense. You miss the drama . Yeah. [ technician ] ask him whatever you want. Okay. Do you think my sisters prettier than me . [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] research, price, find. Only cars. Com helps you get the right car without all the drama. Welcome back to the cnn democratic president ial debate live here in flint, michigan. We want to continue the discussion now and turn to the subject of crime. As most of you know two weeks ago an uber driver in kalamazoo, which is two hours from where we are tonight, went on a shooting rampa rampage, killing six people injuring, two people. One of the injured was a 14yearold girl. Her name is abigail koff. She was shot in the head. Her heart stopped. She was on life support. It looked like she might not make it. But amazingly, abigail pulled through. Her father [ applause ] her father gene is here tonight. I know you have a question. Before you ask your question, how is abigail doing . She is now laughing and giggling but she has a long road of physical recovery. [ applause ] i should point out you are leaning towards senator sanders, but i know you have a question that applies to both candidates. Well first toss it to secretary clinton. Whats your question . The United States has had a rash of Mass Shootings over the years. 42 shootings in the United States this year alone. The man who shot everyone including my daughter in kalamazoo had no Mental Health issues reported and had a clear background. What do you plan to do to address this serious epidemic . I dont want to hear anything about tougher laws for Mental Health or criminal backgrounds because that doesnt work. [ applause ] secretary clinton . First of all, i am looking at your daughter and im very grateful that she is laughing and she is on the road to recovery. But it never should have happened. On average, 90 people a day are killed by gun violence in our country. I think we have to try everything that works to try to limit the numbers of people and the kinds of people who are given access to firearms. The brady bill, which has been in effect now for about 23 years, has kept more than 2 million purchases from going forward. So we do have to continue to try to work on that because not every killer will have the same profile. But the comprehensive background checks, closing the gun show loophole and closing the online loophole, closing whats called the charleston loophole, where you get a gun at the end of three days even if the background check is not completed, which is what the killer in charleston did and then they found out he shouldnt have gotten the gun. He killed nine people at mother emmanuel church. I also believe so strongly, gene, that giving immunity to gun makers and sellers was a terrible mistake because it removed any accountability from the makers and the sellers. And it also disrupted what was a very promising legal theory to try to get makers to do more to make guns safer, for example. To try to give sellers more accountability for selling guns when they shouldnt have. So that is an issue that senator sanders and i differ on. I voted against giving them immunity. But i think we should very seriously move to repeal that and go back to making sure gunmakers and sellers are like any other business, they can be held accountable. And then i do think weve got to have a public thank you. Well, weve got to have a public discussion. Because we have created a culture in which people grab for guns all the time. And there has got to be a way to have more Warning Signals and more efforts to try to stop that from happening like with the man who shot your daughter. [ applause ] senator sanders. I remember president obama being on television maybe three months ago. Im sure the secretary remembers as well. And she knows the president. I know the president. And hes generally speaking in public at least not a very emotional guy. And he, after the mass killing in oregon if my memory is correct, he said look, to be honest with you, lets be honest, nobody has a magic solution to this problem. Any lunatic tomorrow, any person can walk into a theater and do something horrific. And you know what . For us to tell you that that absolutely will not happen would be untrue. But what the president said, he said look, this is a tough issue. But we have got to do everything we possibly can to minimize the possibility of these mass killings. Youre looking at a guy who comes from a rural state, no gun control. I have a dminus voting record from the nra. Youre looking at a guy who in 1988 lost a statewide election for congress because i was the only candidate who said you know what, i dont think its a great idea in this country to be selling militarystyle assault weapons which are designed to kill people. Senator sanders. I lost that election by three votes. I agree with what the secretary said. We need to expand and improve the instant background checks. Bottom line is people who should not have guns in america should not be able to buy guns in america. Secretary clinton mentioned the socalled charleston loophole, what shes calling the charleston loophole. Is that something if you were president ial you would work to extend that threeday absolutely. That bill had some sensible provisions. It had the banning of bullets that pierce policemens armor. Is that a good thing . I think wed want to get rid of that. That particular legislation had safety locks on guns so the kids do not pick them up and shoot them. That bill had bad things in it. What i have said longer than three days waiting period . Absolutely. That was a very arbitrary decision. What that real debate was about, as you may or may not know, was about how long it would take for the instant background check to go into effect. I wanted that instant background check to go into effect as soon as possible. That was the most important part of that bill. Secretary clinton actually, senator sanders, let me continue to follow up. Because secretary clinton mentioned the liability. Right now families of sandy hook victims announced that they are going to sue remington, which made the ar15 which was used in the newtown massacre. [ applause ] now, they believe those families believe that remington, the distributors, the sellers should be held legally responsible for how that gun, how their product is used. Now, the lawsuit may not go anywhere because of the bill you voted for, legislation that prevents gun makers from being sued. Tonight what do you say to those families . This is what i say. If i understand and correct me if im wrong. If you go to a gun store and you legally purchase a gun and then three days later you go out and you start killing people, is the point of this lawsuit to hold the gun shop owner or the manufacturer of that gun liable . If that is the point, i have to tell you, i disagree. I disagree because you hold people in terms of the liability thing where you hold manufacturers liability is if they understand they are selling guns into an area that is getting into the hands of criminals, of course they should be held liable. But if they are selling a product to a person who buys it legally, what youre really talking about is ending gun manufacturing in america. I dont agree with that. Well, that is not what happened. I think its important for people to understand. Because of the proliferation of guns, because of the epidemic of gun violence in our country, there were a group of cities, states, and other concerned people who in the late 90s and early 2000s were working on legal theories they thought would make gun makers to make guns safer and force sellers to be much more responsible. The nra saw this happening and they said we have got to stop it. Last thing in the world we want is to have guns that you can only shoot with your fingerprint or to have guns with such strong safety locks on them that they may not be sellable. So the nra went to the congress and the head of the nra has said this was the most important nra legislation secretary in more than 20 years. And they basically went to the congress. I was there. I was in the senate. And they said give us absolute immunity. Youre over time. No other industry in america has absolute immunity, and they sell products all the time that cause harm and theyre held responsible. Senator sanders. As i understand it, what you are talking about is not what secretary clinton is responding to. As i understand it and maybe im wrong on this. What you are essentially saying, what people are saying is that if somebody who is crazy or a criminal or a horrible person goes around shooting people the manufacturer of that gun should be held liable. And if that is your position, then what you are saying essentially, if that is the case as i understand it, its not what secretary clintons talking about. I agree with what she said. But if that is the case, then essentially your position is there should not be any guns in america. Period. That is like the nra position. Can i finish, please . All right . You can there are people who hold that view. Thats fine if you hold it. I think what you do is hold those people who have used the guns accountable were going to move on. And try to make guns as safe as possible. I would disagree on that. Were going to move on. Don . Anderson, i want to finish because i know some of the parents from sandy hook. I want people in this audience to think about what it must feel like to send off your first grader, little backpack maybe on his or her back and the next thing you hear is that somebody has come to that school using an automatic weapon, an ar15, and murdered those children. They are trying to prevent that from happening to any other family. The best way to do that is to go right at the people. We talk about corporate greed. The gun manufacturers sell guns to make as much money as they can make [ applause ] senator sanders. You know, i think it is a little bit [ applause ] it is a little bit look, what happened at sandy hook, what happened in michigan, what has happened far too often all over this country, is a terrible, terrible tragedy. And we have got to do everything we can as i mentioned a moment ago to end these mass killings. But as i understand what your question is, and youre not the only person whose heart was broken. I was there in the senate when we learned about this killing. It is almost unspeakable to talk about some lunatic walking into a room i mean, it is hard to even talk about it. We all feel that way. But if i understand it, ander n anderson, and maybe im wrong, but youre really talking about people saying lets end gun manufacturing in america. Thats the implication of that. I dont agree with that. We will move on. Don lemon . Thank you very much, anderson. As a black man in america, if i were born today i would have a one in three chance of ending up in prison in my life. Secretary clinton, on the campaign trail you are calling for an end to the era of mass incarceration. But a lot of folks in the black community blame the 1994 crime bill, a bill you supported, for locking up a generation of black men. Given whats happened since 1994, why should black people trust you to get it right this time . Well, don, let me say this. Senator sanders voted for that bill. We both supported it. And i think its fair to say we did because back then there was an outcry over the rising crime rate. And people from all communities were asking that action be taken. Now, my husband said at the naacp last summer that it solved some problems but it created other problems, and i agree. And one of those problems was unfortunately a move to expand the reasons why people would be incarcerated not just at the federal level, which was what this bill was about, but in states and localities as well. Thats why the very first speech that i gave in this campaign was about criminal Justice Reform and ending the era of mass incarceration. Because i believe absolutely that too many families were broken up, too many communities were adversely affected. So weve got to do a bunch of things. On the criminal justice side, look, weve got to have better policing. That means body cameras. That means ending profiling. That means doing everything we can to make sure theres respect between the community and the police. When it comes to incarceration, that means we have to limit mandatory minimums. We have to end disparities in treatment the question, though, secretary clintons why should black people trust you this time to get it right . Thats the question. Well, senator sanders voted for it as well. Are you going to ask him the same question . Probably will. Do you think your support your husband has said this bill was a mistake. Do you think it was a mistake . I just said that. He said at the naacp that there were some aspects of it that worked well. The violence against women provisions have worked well, for example. But other aspects of it were a mistake, and i agree. Thats why im focused and have a very comprehensive approach toward fixing the criminal Justice System, going after systemic racism that stalks the Justice System, ending private prisons, ending the incarceration of lowlevel offenders, and i am committed to doing that. And senator sanders, before you respond i want to ask you this. Back in 1994 heres what you warned. You said we are dooming tens of millions of young people to a future of bitterness, misery, hopelessness, drugs, crime, and violence. But you voted for the bill anyway. Was your vote a mistake . You know, as i think secretary clinton knows, as we all know, there are bills in congress that have bad stuff. There are bills in congress that have good stuff. Good stuff and bad stuff in the same bill. Now, if i had voted against that bill, secretary clinton would be here tonight and shed say Bernie Sanders voted against the ban on assault weapons. Bernie sanders voted against the violence against women act. Those were provisions in the bill as the secretary indicated. In that bill there was good provisions. I have been a fierce fighter against Domestic Violence ever since i was mayor in burlington. Violence against women act has protected millions of women. It was in that bill. The ban on assault weapons. Thats what i have fought for my whole life. It was in that bill. Now, what you are reading, though, is i went to the floor, as i recall, and thats what i said. I tried to get the Death Penalty aspects in that bill out. Secretary clinton and i have a disagreement. I was then and i am now opposed to the Death Penalty. So to answer your question, what you read was a congressman who was torn, who said there are good things in that bill, there are bad things overall, i voted for it. But where we are right now is having 2. 2 Million People in jail, more than any other country on earth. This is a campaign promise. At the end of my first term, we will not have more people in jail than any other country. Thank you, senator. Thank you very much. I want to go now to david mcgee. He works for a foundation and he is a Youth Development Program Director there, in charge of the Youth Development program. He says he is undecided but his question is for senator sanders. David . We live in a very diverse nation. Opportunities to lead, however, to be frank, are often at the feet are older caucasian men and women. Youre not talking about me, are you . Men more so than women. However, what experiences have you had that have helped you deeply understand the mindset and values of other cultures . I think the best answer i dont know that i can give you a definitive answer here. But i will give you this answer. When i was a young man at the university of chicago, i worked with fellow black and white students trying to desegregate university of chicagoowned housing. [ applause ] most candidates for president dont usually put this on their resume, but a year later i was arrest eed by the chicago polic for trying to desegregate the chicago School System. [ applause ] in 1963, and a very important day for me, i went to the march on washington led by dr. King for jobs and freedom. And dr. King has been an important inspiration for me. In this campaign if you go to berniesanders. Com and read our position on criminal justice, it is i believe the strongest position of any candidate. And what it says, among many other things, when 51 of africanamerican kids today are unemployed or underemployed you know what were going to do . Were going to provide education and jobs for those kids, not jails and incarceration. [ applause ] in a speech about policing the fbi director james comey borrowed a phrase from the rodway show avenue q saying everyone is a little bit rac t racist. On a personal front, what racial blind spots do you have . Let me go answer mr. Mcghees question because i think its a very profound one. I think the most important thing that happened to me was a combination of my church and my youth minister when i was a teenager insisting that we go into inner city chicago, because i lived in a suburb, and have exchanges with kids in black and hispanic churches. It was also important for me to be a babysitter for the children of Migrant Workers and learn more about their lives and to go hear dr. King speak in chicago when i was about 14 years old. That got me thinking about what i needed to do to try to fulfill my faith. And when i was in law school, i had the opportunity to meet a visionary woman named Marion Wright edelman who had worked with dr. King, who was the first africanamerican woman who passed the mississippi bar. And i asked her for a job. She said she didnt have any money. I was working my way through law school. She said if i could get a job, get myself paid, shed give me a job. So i got a Law Student Civil Rights Research Council grant. The first thing she did was send me to look at South Carolina to investigate juveniles being sent to adult jails and investigate segregated academies. I am so grateful for my experiences as a very young woman driven by my church and my experiences working for the Childrens Defense Fund which have given me at least some insight and certainly have lit a fire inside me to do everything i can to address systemic racism. Thank you, secretary clinton. I want to ask both of you this question. Im sorry. Go ahead. I appreciate you responding to david mcgees question. But i want to ask both of you again. In a speech about policing, the fbi director james comey borrowed a phrase from the broadway show avenue q saying everyone is a little bit racist. So on a personal front what racial blind spots do you have . Secretary, you first. Well, don, if i could, i think being a white person in the United States of america, i know that ive never had the experience that so many people, the people in this audience have had. I think its incumbent upon me and what i have been trying to talk about is to urge white people about what it is like to have the talk with your kids, scared that your sons or daughters even could get in trouble for no good reason whatsoever like sandra bland and end up dead in a jail in texas. And i have spent a lot of time with the mothers of africanamerican children who have lost them. Trayvon martins mother. And ive gotten to know them. Ive listened to them. It has been incredibly humbling because i cant pretend to have the experience that you have had and others have had. But i will do everything that i possibly can to not only do the best to understand and to empathize but to tear down the barriers of systemic racism that are in the criminal Justice System and the employment system and the education and health care system. That is what i will try to do to deal with what i know is the racism that still stalks our country. Senator sanders, on a personal front what racial blind spots do you have . Let me just very briefly tell you a story. When i was in one of my first years in congress i went to a meeting downtown in washington, d. C. And i went there with another congressman, an africanamerican congressman. And then we kind of separated during the meeting. And then i saw him out later on and he was sitting there waiting. And i said, well, lets go out and get a cab. How come you didnt go out and get a cab . He said no, i dont get cabs in washington, d. C. This is about 20 years ago. Because he was humiliated by the fact that cab drivers would go past him because he was black. I couldnt believe it. You just sit there and you say this man did not take a cab 20 years ago in washington, d. C. Ill tell you another story. I was with some young people active in the black lives matter movement. A young lady comes up to me and she says, you dont understand what police do in certain black communities. You dont understand the degree to which we are terrorized. And im not just talking about the horrible shootings that we have seen which have got to end and weve got to hold Police Officers accountable. Im just talking about everyday activities where Police Officers are bullying people. So to answer your question, i would say and i think its similar to what the secretary said, when youre white you dont know what its like to be living in a ghetto. You dont know what its like to be poor. You dont know what its like to be hassled when you walk down the street or you get dratgged out of a car. I believe as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear. We will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal Justice System. Senator sanders, a cnn poll found that 64 of americans felt like Race Relations got worse over the last decade. You have said Race Relations would absolutely be better under a sanders presidency. So how would you be more effective in tackling racial issues than president barack obama . Its not a question of being better than president obama. Its a question of building on the work that president obama has done. The very important work. You said absolutely, though, in an answer. Well, he has given us a good, good basis and foundation. Weve got to do better than that. Of course we should. But heres what i would do. Heres what i would do. I would end i would make sure that the department of justice investigated every killing of a citizen of this country when they are under apprehension from a Police Officer or when they are killed in police custody. I would end the militarization of local Police Departments. I would develop model programs to make Police Departments look like the communities that they serve. I would end minimal sentencing and give judges more discretion. I would recognize that Substance Abuse and drug addiction is a health issue, not a criminal issue. [ applause ] thank you, senator. And i would make sure that those people who left jail had the education and job training so they dont go back in the same environment that got them in jail in the first place. Senator, thank you very much. Secretary clinton, in 1996 you used the term super predators to describe some young kids. Some feel like it was racial code. Was it . And were you wrong to use the term . Well, i was speaking about drug cartels and criminal activity that was very concerning to folks across the country. I think it was a poor choice of words. I never used it before. I havent used it since. I would not use it again. Because my whole life, to go back to what i was saying to mr. Mcgee, is you know, really ever since i went to work for the Childrens Defense Fund, is to try to figure out ways to even the odds for people that are left out and left behind. And i know very well that we have too many kids in our country right now who are living in poverty, who are going to schools like the ones in detroit that have mold and rodents in them. I saw that in South Carolina. Its unfortunately across america. So what weve got to do is provide more opportunities earlier in the lives of every child. Thats why i believe in supporting families, Early Childhood education, universal prekindergarten. Help kids be successful. And here in flint weve got to do more to mitigate against the effects of lead. Because too many kids are having the experiences ive been told about where theyre falling back in school, where theyre having headaches because of the lead exposure. Thank you. So were going to have to do even more here than we would in most other places. Were going to talk about education in just can i respond to that briefly . I am not sure which legislation that was. But i think it may have been the welfare reform it was the crime bill. The crime big. But during that same bill in 96. There was a welfare reform bill. And this bill really was a bill that scapegoated the poorest people in this country. I strongly opposed that legislation. Secretary clinton had a different position then. What that legislation ended up doing is increasing extreme poverty, the poorest people in this country have become much poorer as a result of that really a bill that was written by republicans. Bad bill. Secretary clinton, you were invoked. 30 seconds. Once again, if were going to argue about the 90s lets try to get the facts straight. That bill had a lot of provision thats unfortunately were stripped out by george w. Bush, by republican governors. And i disagreed with the way it was applied. And i have a very clear set of ideas about what should be done to try to provide more support including trying to cut poverty in half in the next ten years. But if were going to talk about the 90s lets talk about 23 million new jobs, incomes went up for everybody. The median africanamerican income went up 33 at the end of the 90s, and we lifted more people out of poverty than at any other time in recent history. So we were on the right path. More jobs, rising incomes, along came george w. Bush and trickle down economics and brought us the Great Recession which thank goodness president obama has been digging us out of ever since. [ applause ] senator sanders. Secretary clinton is right. The 1990s we created a whole lot of jobs. Good. And i supported many of your husbands initiatives. But in the 1990s you know what we also did . We deregulated wall street, which allowed wall street to end up destroying our economy. We passed nafta and other disastrous trade agreements that had a horrendous impact on africanamericans in particular in flint, in detroit, and all across this country. So when we talk about the 90s, youre right, a lot of good things happened. But a lot of bad things happened. I voted against those trade agreements thank you, senator. And i voted against deregulating wall street. We have to take a short break. The discussion and debate continues here from from flint in just a moment. [ applause ] to h r block. But this year, i can go to block and pay half, what i paid my other guy. You can switch to block and pay half too. Half price is a better price, when you think about it. So follow us, were going to h r block. [richard] switch to block and pay half. Im spending too muchs for time hiringnter. And not enough time in my kitchen. announcer need to hire fast . Go to ziprecruiter. Com and post your job to over 100 of the webs leading job boards with a single click. Then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. You put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. Makes my job a lot easier. announcer over 400,000 businesses have already used ziprecruiter. And now you can use ziprecruiter for free. Go to ziprecruiter. Com offer5 [ applause ] welcome back to the cnn democratic president ial debate live in flint, michigan. Lets move on to the subject of education. In nearby detroit the Public Schools have become a National Symbol of neglect and failure. That School System is 3. 5 billion in debt. Officials say they could run out of money by april. I want to bring in shaniqua kemp. Her 14yearold daughter is a student in detroit. Shes one of ten parents suing detroit Public Schools not for money she says but to improve conditions. She says shes currently leaning toward senator sanders. Her question will go to both of you but well start with senator sanders. Ms. Kemp. Thank you. Speaking of opportunities for success, in detroit schools open and close with no accountability or transparency to the communities that they service. Not only that, in our schools as you stated we have issues with rats, mold, no working water fountains, not to mention noncertified teachers, lack of accountability around transportation, special education, and so much more. With that said, our students can no longer suffer due to lack of these things or having these dilapidated issues take place. So my question is who is going to step up . Who is going ensure that the policies and procedures are put in place that will ensure and bring forth a successful future for our students because my daughter cannot wait eight more years for success to take place at your hands, at the leaders hands. Senator sanders, lets start with you. Thank you very much for not being resigned to that horrendous situation, but being prepared to stand up and fight back. Thats what we need all over this country. [ applause ] thank you. And let me be very honest with you. Its a hard thing to say, but it is true. A great nation is judged not by how many millionaires and billionaires it has, but by how it treats the most vulnerable amongst us. And that is the children and that is the elderly. And do you know what . We should be ashamed of how we treat our kids and our senior citizens. Thank you. [ applause ] we have a Republican Leadership in congress now fighting for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for the top 2 10 of 1 . But somehow we cant come up with the money to fix detroits crumbling Public School system. Somehow we cannot make sure that detroit has qualified and good teachers. Somehow we cant make sure there are summer programs for your children and after School Programs for your children. Somehow we cannot do what other countries around the world do. Provide quality child care and prek. We have got to change our national priorities. No more tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations. We are going to invest in our children and have the best Public School system in the world. [ applause ] senator sanders, before we go to secretary clinton, senator sanders, let me just follow up with you. As president you have to decide where to spend your political capital. There is a lot of things you want to do. Where does fixing ms. Kemps Daughters School and other schools, where does that lay in your list of things to do . Anderson, not only do we have a crumbling School System in detroit and in many other areas, we have and everybody in this room should be embarrassed by this. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth. That is a disgrace. So when you ask me about my priorities, my priorities are that no, were not going to give tax breaks to the wealthy. Were going to ask them to start paying their fair share of taxes so we can raise the money to make sure that every child in this country, in detroit, in vermont gets the quality education that he or she deserves. Secretary clinton . Miss kemp, here is what i would do as president. Number one, i would reinstate a program we did have during the 90s where the federal government provided funding to repair and modernize Public Schools. Because a lot of communities cant afford to do that on their own. Secondly, i would use every legal means at my disposal to try to force the governor and the state to return the schools to the people of detroit, to end the emergency management, which i believe if you look at the if you look at the data, the situation has only gotten worse with these Emergency Managers that have put the system further in debt. Number three, i want to set up inside the department of education for want of a better term, kind of an education s. W. A. T. Team, if you will, where weve got qualified people, teachers, principals, maybe folks who are retired, maybe folks who are active, but who are willing to help. When detroit gets back their schools, they should have all the help they can get to get teachers in the classroom and find spaces while schools are being repaired. I also would look at how we could through the federal Government Support more teachers. We are going to have a Teacher Shortage in some of the hardest to teach districts, including detroit. [ applause ] let me just follow up with the secretary and then ill come back to you, senator sanders. Youve been endorsed, secretary clinton, by two of the biggest teachers unions. Theres an awful lot of Great Teachers in this country. Its an incredibly difficult job, one of the most difficult jobsar there is, but union rules often make it impossible to fire bad teachers and that means disadvantaged kids are somehow taught by the least qualified. Do you think unions protect bad teachers . You know what . I am proud to have been endorsed by the aft and the nea. And ive had very ive had a very Good Relationship with both unions, with their leadership. And weve had really candid conversations because we are going to have to take a look. What do we need in the 21st century to really involve families, to help kids who have more problems than just academic problems . A lot of what has happened, and honestly it really pains me. A lot of people have been blaming and scapegoating teachers because they dont want to put the money into the School System that deserves the support that comes from the government doing its job. Just to follow up, you dont believe unions protect bad teachers . You know, i have told my friends at the top of both unions, weve got to take a look at this because it is one of the most common criticisms. We need to eliminate that criticism. You know, teachers do so much good, they are often working under the most difficult circumstances. So anything that could be changed, i want them to look at. And i will be a good partner to make sure that whatever i can do as president i will do to support the teachers. Senator sanders . What our campaign is about is asking people to think big, not small. When we think big and talk about education, we have to ask ourselves a simple question. How is it starting at college that hundreds of thousands of bright young people are today unable to go to college because they cant afford it . How is it that maybe your kid and when i was growing up, we didnt have any money, were not even dreaming of going to college because they knew it was another world. Starting with the top, i know some people think its a radical idea. I dont. I believe that every Public College and university in this country should be tuitionfree. [ applause ] so that your child regardless of the income of your family knows if she studies hard she is going to be able to go to college. Thank you, senator. You know what else we do . We invest in child care. Right now you have child care workers making mcdonalds wages. That is crazy. Thank you, senator. I want welltrained, wellpaid child care workers to give the youngest kids the best opportunities. I want to go to my colleague, don lemon. Secretary clinton, i want to turn from the state of our Nations School to the state of our nations crumbling infrastructure which you talked a little bit about at the beginning of this debate. But beyond the detroit schools and flint water crisis, pipes, roads, and bridges are in need of repair. It would take trillions of dollars to fix it all. Senator sanders has proposed a 1 trillion plan, but yours is only a quarter of that. Is your plan big enough to fix the crumbling infrastructure in this country . Well, theres no doubt we have an enormous backlog of infrastructure repairs. Heres what i do. The Congress Finally got around to passion the highway transportation bill, which should never have been partisan. It turned into being one partisan argument. I want to go further. I want to put 250 billion additional on top of what congress has done. That gets us to a half billion. I want to start a National Infrastructure bank. I want to capitalize it with 25 billion that i believe will leverage ten times that. Thats another 250 billion. I am trying to do this in a way that will gain support and be affordable, but there is no doubt we have to do more on our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, our ports, our airports. And as we talked about in the beginning here, under our ground, our Water Systems, our sewer systems, we have pipelines that are leaking and that are dangerous. We have so much work to be done. And we can put millions of people to work. I think my plan is a very good way to begin doing that work and get people out there doing it. Thank you, secretary. Senator sanders, critics of your 1 trillion proposal say it is yet another example of a costly plan that will never get through congress and cant be paid for. The best infrastructure deal is what the secretary just mentioned, the deal president obama could negotiate with republicans, was a 305 billion highway bill. If he couldnt do more, how can you . Well, lets begin by discussing the problem. As youve indicated, the American Society of Civil Engineers say we need trillions of dollars. Trillions of dollars just to bring up our infrastructure to deal with Water Systems like flint, just to bring them up to decent levels. We have suggested a trilliondollar investment. Now, you know whos going to pay for that . Ill tell you how were going to pay for that. Right now this country is losing 100 billion every single year because profitable corporations are stashing their profits in the cayman islands, bermuda, and in other tax havens. [ applause ] and in some cases not paying five cents in federal income tax. I will eliminate that outrageous loophole, and we will raise a trillion dollars. And by the way, not only do we rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, trillion dollars over five years creates 13 million decentpaying jobs. Thank you, senator sanders. The issue of Climate Change has been a major talking point for both of you. I wanted to bring in sarah bel air, a student at the university of michigan at dearborn who said shes currently undecided. Ms. Bel air has a question on fracking, which for viewers is a process of oil and gas drilling thats led to a significant increase in American Energy production and jobs but also raises serious environmental concerns. Sarah, your question for secretary clinton but youll both be able to weigh in. Sarah . Fracking can lead to environmental pollution including but not limited to the contamination of water supply. Do you support fracking . Secretary clinton. I dont support it when any locality or any state is against it, number one. I dont support it when the release of methane or contamination of water is present. I dont support it, number three, unless we can require that anybody who fracks has to tell us exactly what chemicals they are using. So by the time we get through all of my conditions, i do not think there will be many places in america where fracking will continue to take place. And i think thats the best approach because right now there are places where fracking is going on that are not sufficiently regulated. So first we have to regulate everything that is under way and we have to have a system in place that prevents further fracking unless conditions like the ones that i just mentioned are met. Senator sanders, you my answer is a lot shorter. No, i do not support fracking. [ applause ] and by the way, anderson, im glad you raised the issue of Climate Change because the media doesnt talk enough about what the scientists are telling us. And that is if we dont get our act together, the planet that were going to leave our children may not be healthy and habitable. I have introduced the most comprehensive Climate Change legislation in the history of the senate, which among other things called for a tax on carbon, massive investments in Energy Efficiency, wind, solar, and other sustainable energy. This is a crisis we have got to deal with now. [ applause ] senator sanders, to secretary clintons point, there are a number of democratic governors in many states who say that fracking can be done safely and that its helping their economies. Are they wrong . Yes. One of the differences between secretary clinton and ive said this before. I admit it. She has the support of all the governors, democratic, all the senators and congressmen. I dont. I am not part of that establishment. I plead guilty. I happen to be a member of the environmental committee. I have talked to scientists all over the world. What they are telling me, if we dont get our act together, this planet could be five to ten degrees warmer by the end of the century. Cataclysmic problems for this planet. This is a national crisis. And i talked to scientists who tell me that fracking is doing terrible things to Water Systems. All over this country. We have got to be bold now. Weve got to transform our Energy System to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energy. Weve got to do it yesterday. Senator clinton, before we come to you [ applause ] secretary clinton will be ready to respond, but senator sanders, youve been very tough lately. Last week you said this about secretary clinton. Just as i believe you cant take on wall street while taking their money, i dont believe you can take on climate effectively while take money from those who would profit off the destruction of the planet. Are you suggesting that shes in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry . No, what i am suggesting is that we have a corrupt Campaign Finance system. And instead of standing up to that finance system, instead of standing up to that finance system, secretary clinton has a super pac, which is raising huge amounts well, i hate to say the word huge. Every time i say huge. A lot of money. From wall street and from the fossil fuel industry. I am doing it a different way. I have five million individual contributor who have gone to berniesanders. Com to make a 27 contribution. Thank you, senator. I dont take money from the fossil fuel industry. Secretary clinton . Well, first let me say i think i have the most comprehensive plan to combat Climate Change. It sets some really big goals. A half billion more solar panels deployed by the end of my first term if im so fortunate to be president and enough clean energy to power every home by the end of my second term. What i am looking at is how we make the transition from where we are today to where we must be. I worked with president obama during the four years i was secretary of state. To begin to put pressure on china and india and other countries to join with us to have a global agreement which we finally got in paris. I am committed to and focused on that transition. We are taking away the subsidies for oil and gas, but it is important that people understand that a president cant go ordering folks around. Our system doesnt permit that. I am going to set the goals. I will push everybody as hard as i can to achieve those goals. We will make progress on Clean Renewable Energy and create millions of jobs through that. [ applause ] senator sanders on the on the campaign trail senator sanders often refers to a fundraiser in january that was hosted by executives from a firm thats invested significantly in domestic fracking. Do you have any comment on that . I dont have any comment. I dont know that. I dont believe theres any reason to be concerned about it. I admire what senator sanders has accomplished in his campaign. I have more than 850,000 donors, most of them give less than 100. Im very proud of that. I want to make one point. We have our differences and we get into vigorous debate about issues, but compare the substance of this debate with what you saw on the republican stage last week. [ applause ] senator sanders. Well, let me make a couple of responses. Let me pick up on the last point the secretary made. You know, we are, if elected president , going to invest a lot of money into Mental Health. And when you watch these republican debates, you know why we need to invest in Mental Health. [ applause ] but heres the difference. Here is the difference. Not a personal difference. We just do things differently. I honestly look, we have a corrupt Campaign Finance system. What secretary clinton is saying and what every candidate who receives from the fossil fuel industry or the Drug Companies and wall street saying not going to impact me. The question the American People have to ask is why are these people putting millions of dollars into candidates if its not going to make a difference . Thank you, senator. And that is why, by the way, that is why one of my Top Priorities if elected president will be to overturn this outrageous Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Thank you very much, senator. Secretary clinton and no, we have to go. And that is one of the many reasons we must all support president obamas right to nominate a successor to Justice Scalia and demand that the Senate Hold Hearings and a vote on that successor. There are so many issues at stake. On the first day of my campaign i said we are going to reverse Citizens United thank you, secretary. And if we cant get it done through the court i will lead a constitutional amendment effort. We have more questions coming up. Much more of the democratic president ial debate here in flint right after this. [ applause ] life as spokesbox is great. 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So, we say thank you america for a century of trust, for the privilege of flying higher and higher, together. When youre on hold, your business is on hold. Thats why comcast business doesnt leave you there. When you call, a Small Business expert will answer you in about 30 seconds. No annoying hold music. Just a real person, real fast. Whenever you need them. Great, thats what i said. So your business can get back to business. Sounds like my rides ready. Dont get stuck on hold. Reach an expert fast. Comcast business. Built for business. [ applause ] welcome back to the cnn democratic president ial debate. Thank you very much for joining us. Secretary clinton, i want to ask you about something you talked about this morning. You said this morning about your emails that you expect the investigation to be wrapped up soon. The republican frontrunner donald trump says hes going to talk about your emails every single day if hes the nominee and out on the campaign trail. Democrats want to know, your supporters want to know if youre the nominee, how are you going to take him on . Well, let me start by saying that the last time i checked, as of last night, donald trump had received 3. 6 million votes, which is a good number, and theres only one candidate in either party who has more votes than him, and thats me. [ applause ] and i am building a broad, Diverse Coalition across our country. I am very excited by the support were receiving, and i have said, and i will repeat here, i think that Donald Trumps bigotry, his bullying, his bluster are not going to wear well on the American People. And so i will look forward i will look forward to engaging him because, you know, i dont think we need to make America Great again. America didnt stop being great. We have to make it whole again. We have to knock down the barriers. We have to end the divisiveness. We have to unify the country. And if im fortunate enough to be the nominee, thats exactly what ill do. Senator sanders, i want to ask you basically the same question. Hes called you a communist. How are you going to that was one of the nice things that he said about me. Ill tell you something. This is my right arm. Im prepared to give no, i shouldnt say that. I would love to run against donald trump, and ill tell you why. For a start, what almost not all, but almost every poll has shown is that sanders versus trump does a lot better than clinton versus trump. Right here in michigan, there was a poll done i think yesterday or today, had me beating trump in michigan by 22 points. Secretary clinton beat him as well, but not by so much. And thats true nationally and in many other states. And the other reason i think we can beat trump is that our campaign is generating an enormous amount of excitement. Just in the last two days we have won the caucuses in maine. We won that tonight with a very large turnout. We won nebraska. We won kansas, and kansas was the biggest turnout in their caucus history. I think we are exciting workingclass people, young people who are prepared to stand up and demand that we have a government that represents all of us and not just the few. Thank you. I want to we have a question from denise gatos. She grew up here in flint, michigan. She said shes undecided on a candidate. Shes got a question actually, shes got two questions. First one is for senator sanders, then shell ask another question to secretary clinton. Denise . Thank you. Senator sanders, do you believe that god is relevant . Why or why not . I think well, the answer is yes, and i think when we talk about god, whether it is christianity or judaism or islam or buddhism, what we are talking about is what all religions hold dear, and that is to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. [ applause ] i am here tonight, and im running for president. Im a United States senator from my great state of vermont. Because i believe that. Because i believe morally and ethically we do not have a right to turn our backs on children in flint, michigan who are being poisoned or veterans who are sleeping out on the street. And what i believe, what i believe as the father of seven beautiful grandchildren, i want you to worry about my grandchildren, and i promise you i will worry about your family. We are in this together. [ applause ] senator sanders, let me just follow up. Just this weekend there was an article i read in the detroit news saying that you keep your judaism in the background and thats disappointing some jewish leaders. Is that intentional . No. I am very proud to be jewish, and being jewish is so much of what i am. Look, my fathers family was wiped out by hitler in the holocaust. I know about what crazy and radical and extremist politics mean. I learned that lesson as a tiny, tiny child when my mother would take me shopping and we would see people working in stores who had numbers on their arms because they were in hitlers concentration camp. Im very proud of being jewish, and that is an essential part of who i am as a human being. [ applause ] denise has a question for secretary clinton. Denise . Yes. Secretary clinton, during our church services, we pray for the president of the United States and we pray for the armed forces. We give thanks to them and pray for our loved ones and pray for our enemies. To whom and for whom do you pray . I have been several times in your services and have joined in those prayers and have also been privileged to lead them in some settings. I pray very specifically for people whom