This is a great honor. We have quite a few children that are going to take rides today. Where are they . Get them over here. Thats great. I love children, i love iowa. I have developed a relationship with it and i its a great place. [indiscernible] i have been here many times. The venues have gotten larger and larger because we have gotten some tremendous crowds. We are doing recordbreaking crowds and i am so honored when i saw the recent polls with iowa leading by a lot. We started with smaller venues and we have gotten bigger and bigger. The crowds have gotten to be in our mess. I love my kids. Does anybody want to take a ride . Looks nice, right . How many can you take at one time . It will go up and then it will come down. Who wants to go first . [laughter] we are going to have some fun. Are your parents out there . To them. Them wave they are going to have fun. I have jury duty. I look forward to it. I have no expectation. Innocent,e they are whoever they are. [indiscernible] Hillary Clinton has a of problems with the email situation. A tiny petraeus had fraction of what she have going. They destroyed his life. I think she has some very big problems. I wish her luck. I always say you are innocent until proven guilty. It would look very serious as far as she is concerned. Hope that is not what happens to her but the fact arent looking good for her right now. What general petraeus looked through went through on a much lesser level, i think it will be very tough for her. Under what circumstances would you use a Nuclear Weapon . Talkdont even want to about that. That is a very serious question and hopefully you would never have to use one. We have to be prepared. The world hates us. Probably never liked us before and we have to build up our military. We have to take care of our vets and we have to have the finest armament and military and equipment anywhere in the world by a factor of 10. We have to be protected. We have to be so tough and strong and smart that nobody will ever mess with us. What would you say to Hillary Clinton if you ran into her at the fair . I would say hello. What do you think your biggest challenge is Going Forward pack out forward . We are doing so well. We are being ripped off by anyone everyone in the world. Mexico is becoming the new china in terms of trade. Just yesterday, i read that nabisco is moving to mexico. Give me a break. We have to reverse that. We need jobs in our country. We are going to take jobs back from china, japan, make our country great again. That, to me, is going to be the challenge and we are going to do it. It is not going to be that difficult. I spoke with carl icahn, he will help us. All of the best negotiators . We have the best Business People in the world in this country. They will all help us. Righte me, when i get the people negotiating with the right countries, we will come out on top everything will time. Thats what we need. [applause] you talked about jeb bush yesterday being a puppet of his donors. There is no question about it. He has lobbyists. I know them. He made statements over the last couple of days that are incredible, trying to justify the war in iraq. Saw hisknow if you recent statement, he said the United States has to prove to iraq that we have skin in the game. Thousands of lives have been lost and he says that. I think it may be one of the dumbest statements i have ever heard. We dont have to prove anything. The iraqi officials are a bunch of crooks if there even is an iraq. Iran is taking over iraq. It was one of the dumbest things ever. I think his brother probably said, hey, you are killing me. That was his war and he looks very bad. Jeb bush try to push back but when he said we have to prove to iraq that we have skin in the game and we cost all of those lives and money, i think he should apologize to the families of the people. You admit that you were a puppeteer. I was one of the greats. I know how the system works better than anybody. These are not people that are doing it because they like the color of his hair, believe me. These are highly sophisticated killers. When they get 5 million or 2 million to geoff, they had him just like a puppet. He will do whatever they want. He is their puppet. Believe me. With me, i had yesterday a lobbyist call me up. A friend of mine. For his client, i dont blame him, he said i want to put 5 million into your campaign and i said i dont need it or want it. Because when you can back to me in two years anyone help for a company that you representing or country that you are representing, im good to the to the right thing for the people of the United States and i dont have to insult you. I appreciated but dont want your 5 million. I am turning down so much money. If he put it up i would feel obligated as im a loyal person. Just like jeb bush. Im not just talking about jeb, hillary too. Nobody plays the game better than i did and that is the way it works. Qualified to be president in are you qualified to be president in your view . Trump nobody will do the job that i will do. I will bring back jobs, strengthen the military, take care of bets, get rid of obamacare. Look at what is happening. Look what is happening. The costs of your insurance is gone to the roof. Look what it is happening. It is terrible. I will take care of people in it will be better to women. There is another thing i heard with jeb. Womens health issues. Then he goes back to her three hours later and said he misspoke. I will be so great to women. I cherish women and women have not been taking care of properly. When i hear somebody like jeb bush talking about we are not going to find and then he comes back. s pollster said you made a mistake, take it back. But he does not mean it from the heart. Another question. [indiscernible] trump it will come out tomorrow on meet the press. I just put out a policy on immigration i think is very comprehensive. Tax policy which i have to be very good at. Who knows the system better than me . Im putting out a tax policy over the next you weeks. We are putting them out one by one. I think you will see that it will be very important. Thank you for all your nice words. A lot of voters are saying they really with this year policies. They are very eager to see the substance behind trump i think the press is more eager to see it than the voters. I think they like me and they understand the and think i will do the job. When you put out a policy like a 14 point plan, a lot of times in the first hour of negotiation that 14 point plan goes astray. But you may come up with a better deal. That is how life works. When i do a deal i do not say heres 14 point. I go out and do it. I dont talk about 14 points. I know the press wants it. I dont think that people care. I think they trust me. That is what it is all about. I have been getting politicians to pass whatever it wanted all my life. Nobody has more experience. Nobody is more experience dealing with politicians. I have been dealing with them all my life. Whether it is big new york city zoning deals which are probably tougher than most of the things i will be dealing with with foreign countries. I built a city on the west side of manhattan. Talk about getting zoning. Getting zoning for trump tower, 68 stories on 57th. Ive been given with politicians all my life. They are fine. They are wonderful. They are all talk and no action. They are selling this, country down the tubes and they are easy to deal with believe me. Why do you think voters dont care about policy . Why arent you speaking at the iowa soapbox . Are you afraid to take questions . Trump that paper was not relevant to me. And a notice another a number of other people are not speaking there. Yes, im taking questions right now. Am i going to take questions . She just asked if im going to take questions from reporters. Am i taking questions from reporters . They will tell you im taking questions. [applause] trump unlike hillary, do we agree . Go ahead. [indiscernible] trump i had not heard that. I guess that is a consummate in many ways. Complement in many ways. Yes, go ahead. My concern is protecting the border and enforcing the laws we already have trump you are going to love me in terms of illegal immigration. We are building a wall. It will be a wall. Nobody is going through my wall. Trump builds walls. We are building the wall. It will be strong and solid and the least policed. All you have to do is fly a drone over it. They can see that immediately. Nobody can go under, nobodys going over it, and we are good of a big door for people to come and legally. We will have a big dutiful door beautiful door for people to commit legally. I want people to come into the country but they have to come in legally. You will be very happy with me. Yeah . Would a President Trump the same as candidate trump with foreign leaders . Trump i think even better. Foreign leaders ive had great relationships over the years. I had great relationships with people over the years. I think even better. I am leading in every poll. The big ones and little ones. I am leading in iowa because when people look at scott walker, estate has a 2. 2 billion deficit. He was telling peoples growth is terrible in terms of the state. Their instrument is dissension all of the state but they said they will have a big surplus of 1 billion. Its a 2. 2 billion deficit. Nobody was willing to say it but me. And i did not want to say it. I would not have said it until he attacked me. Then i said thank you very much and i set it. I am talking about foreign leaders. Trump i get along great with them. Im building when china in china. A building all over the world. Why, do you think theyre getting long good right now . Putin cant stand obama. Who likes obama . I am talking worldwide. He is not getting along with anybody. Hillary clinton was the single worst secretary of state in the history of this country. The world collapsed around us while she was secretary of state. In my opinion, kerry might be worse because he is making a deal with iran that is so bad and so dangerous and so incompetent and stupid that it will have grave consequences. Grave consequences. What would you do what they want to stop the iranians from getting a Nuclear Weapon . Trump very forceful action. You cannot let iran let me tell you this. Nor can israel. Israel sold epicurean obama. You cannot let iran have Nuclear Weapon. When they marched on the street saying have to israel, death to United States. It cannot happen. It will not happen here. Yourself funding your campaign. Heavyset a budget for this endeavor . Trump irrelevant. I make 400 million a year. What difference does it make . I want to make the country great. That is all it want to do. My business has been so successful. My children and my executives will run that easily. I wont even think about it. My sole purpose will be taking the brain that built a great business with some of the great assets of the world, i have some the great assets in the world. Best locations in manhattan. Trump tower, 57th and fifth. That is what i do whatever it is. Whatever kind of a brain that is will be used to making our country rich again, trade deals. Great trade deals. Making our country rich. And then making it great. We cannot make it great unless we make it we need the money. We of 19 trillion. My whole focus will be this country and making it great. Will you spend a billion dollars 1 billion on election . Trump i would if i had to. [indiscernible] trump yes, i do. I have exceptions and ive been open about that. What is the biggest challenge your campaign faces going into the fall . Have you made any mistakes so far . Trump i dont think i have made mistakes. They do the polls in my never go up. When i said mexico, i was talking about illegal immigration. The people understood it even though the press did not want them to. When i talk about john mccain i was saying how bad he treated veterans. They are treated badly. Than they do a poll. Mccain or trump . And i swap them in the polls. The veterans like me better because they know i will take care of them. After 30 years he is not taking care of them. And this last thing with fox. All you have to do is ask roger who won. I do not think i have made any mistakes. Im sure i will at some point, but so far you have to say as a work of badly . Right. Reported is not want to give me an answer. Your wife is the possible first lady . They are not doing it to any other candidate. Trump did you run a profile . That will not happen. She is fantastic. What kind of things will you do differently for this country . Trump almost everything. What things in my candidate different for this country . Almost everything, because that is what has to happen. Everything we do is wrong. The military, we are not taking care of the military or our vets. We are not taking care of our country, our finances. Were not taking care of our trade deals. When was the last time you saw this country have a victory . We do not have victories. We do not have victories against china in trade. China just devalued their currency. That is the sucking sound. That means jobs and money coming out of our country. What they did with that evaluation, the biggest devaluation that had into decades, they are killing us. They will not be doing it when i am watching. I think our people have no idea what is happening. Do you agree with me . Does everybody agree with me . Yeah trump lets give them a helicopter ride. Come on, it was going first . Where are your parents . Kids, get all lined up. [indiscernible] trump lets get a picture of everybody. Get in the picture. Everybody back. [indiscernible] democratic president ial candidate Hillary Clinton attended the iowa state fair alongside former iowa senator, tom harkin. They spoke with the media before greeting local residents. I noticed that last night in the speech, you joked about. Napshot snapchat do you think this is a laughing matter . Do you take any responsibility for this investigation that is going on now . Clinton first, i have said that i used a single account for convenience. Years later, it doesnt look so convenient. The facts are the same as they have been from the very these questions being raised. Most importantly, i never sent classified material on my email, and i never received any that was marked classified. I am going to let whatever inquiry go forward and will. Wait the outcome of it it will probably confirm what i just said to you. Look at think, if you the republicans in congress and running for president , there is an unfortunate tendency to try g ke partisan a trotta tragedy in benghazi. I dont bigots right and i will not participate. We will see how this all plays out. Its not anything that people ilk to me a route about as travel the country. It is never raised in my other meetings of people. I think people are interested in what mr. Harkin just said. He will get the economy moving. Refinance people who are in debt. Open up the workforce for women, people with disabilities so they can make their contribution, be treated fairly, and so much more. A few democrats i have spoken to have said they are worried. Clinton this is the usual partisan as asian partisan ization, i think i just made up a word. I think people in iowa are going to want to vote for somebody they believe will deliver deliver results for them. I have a very strong case to make on that. [indiscernible] mrs. Clinton can you repeat that . [indiscernible] mr. Harkin i dont know anything about timing. I spent the entire month of july 25thon the 24th anniversary. That occupied a lot of my time. What better time than the iowa state fair . Are you saying the intelligence review and department of justice are partisan review . Inton this is not about me, they have confirmed that. There are disputes going on among agencies about what should have, could have, would have been done years ago. At that is something for them to work out. I did not send nor did i receive material marked as classified. Jeb bush has criticized you and president obama push isis. S about the rise of do you think the Administration Needs to do more . Mrs. Nton i thought find it curious that jeb bush is doubling down on defending his brothers actions in iraq. The entire picture includes the agreement that george w. Bush iraqwith the government in that said the end of 2011 was the day to withdraw american troops. That was done under george w. Bush. I can only wonder whether he either did not know that or thought that other people would not be reminded of that. To make whatever case he wishes on behalf of his own family, there is clearly a very between the agreement george w. Bush signed and the efforts that the Obama Administration made, of which i was a part, to persuade the Iraqi Government to admit continued American Forests for iraqi armies forces. They did not want a continued american presence. I think that what is being done is verypect to isis significant in terms of support that the United States is now providing to the iraqi armies to retrain because that is what the government did to start to erode the abilities. Try to get the sunnis back into the fight against isis. Iraqiledo be an mission. Like anybody who has followed ,he terrific, barb horrific barbaric behavior by isis, i am very committed to supporting the efforts within the region to try poseke on the threats they to everyone, but particularly to women and especially women of certain religious backgrounds. Is so deeply that depressing to read about what is going on there. I think we have to do more and i hope we will do more to try to to the whole region together drive isis out of the territory they occupied to rescue the people they have enslaved, predominantly women. Ishink that president obama doing what he can to try to bring that about. Thank you. Quick question. How do you assess the 2015 republican field. Did you ever expect to see donald trump on top of the list . They are trying to appeal to it tends to be more divisive. Two separate people more than ever. I hope more moderate voices will come to the forefront. You were going to essendon and then we have to go. You are about to go on some vacation time. Is there one thing you feel could make a stronger candidate . What is the biggest mistake you have made . Ms. Clinton i am just having a good time. Months intofour this. I feel positive about the organization. Is a continuing conversation with the American People. I am learning a lot about it. Let me give you an example of why i find this so personally rewarding. Debuque, a woman said she was there because when i talked to Mental Health. The reason i talked about it is because people in iowa talk to me about it. I want to have this continuing conversation and i will fight as hard as i can to earn every vote. Let me just also say, as a longtime iowa politician, [indiscernible] i just want to say this. Hillary is doing everything she can. The organization is strong. She is touching on are reaching people in the state of iowa. A much better and more personally involved campaign than in 2008. She just needs to come out and meet iowans and the rest will fall into place. That is why i believe in the caucuses hillary will come out ahead. Have you had any conversations with joe biden . [indiscernible] hi, hillary. Nice to meet you. [indiscernible] secretary clinton, how are you . At is a good th recommendation. Glad to be here. Ms. Clinton how are you, sir . Good to see you. Nice to see you. Thank you guys. [indiscernible] that is even better. How are you . I am so happy to see you. You got it. Ms. Clinton i knew johns sister beth. Together when fun we taught at fayetteville in the law school. Came and she was solicitor general here. The attorney generals office. Ill convinced her to go to washington for a while. Great to see you. My daughter wanted to be sure you got this information. we have to get a picture we can send. Get the senator and me with you . Hi, macon. Nice to meet you. Thank you so much. I will take it. We will take a couple. That is wonderful. Thank you. Ms. Clinton i had to laugh. Run thei used to potlucks together when we were ining in pay at bell fayetteville. We would have people over and have potlucks. It was like something she brought from iowa to arkansas. She brought them to washington. The justice department, janet reno. The potluck is one of the best ways to have people meet each other. Will do everything we can. We live just north of lucas. We have a native grass seed business. Ms. Clinton i need you around. Not just for the campaign. It is so good to see you. We got to get together. It happens to you, it is the best. Ms. Clinton will and i are crazy. We are way over the top. Thank you both so much. Thank you, take care. Ok. Byebye. [indiscernible] good to see you. That is my daughter. Two years now. I was in eastern iowa and decided i wanted to join the farm. Hers and joined. Best thing i did. But it is wonderful. Family farm, generation after generation. Bought it inther 1905. My kids are back from college. We have grants guns. Grandsons. Ms. Clinton how far back does that go . X as far back as we can trace over in europe and they moved here. A love of agriculture. Ms. Clinton it is wonderful to have the chance to sit down and talk with you all and have you here. When youyou for that was so perfect. Wow. You folks put that together so well. Ms. Clinton it came from listening to people. Have you been down . There is a casino. It doesnt bring headlines. Learn, [indiscernible] a plus. [indiscernible] i am from riverside. Wanted to introduce myself and say hi. Longtime dairy farmer. Know, imt to let you a mother of a severely disabled child. She is on 14 different medications. Methadone, morphine. Ms. Clinton how old is she . What is her name . X she is undiagnosed. Seizurespilepsy, heart they cannot stop. She is on a feeding tube. Not excited to live long. I have been advocating for medical cannabis we would love your support. For a real medical purpose. Ms. Clinton to do the research so we know. Just what to introduce myself and thank you for coming to the state fair. Thanks for sharing that. Ms. Clinton we are good friends with bob and wally. Thanks for all you do. Clinton i will certainly support it. I have and i will continue to permit i want to get the Research Going for it she is on a Clinical Trial right now. They are a game changer. She deserves so much. Thank you so much. [indiscernible] ms. Clinton are we still following perfect. [indiscernible] where are we going . [indiscernible] thanks for coming here today. Theyre coming back for sure. Farmers are getting back, engaged. Ms. Clinton you have to buy all new chickens. They have to start from scratch. In a take a couple of years but they are coming back. Our farmers are focused and resilient. Ms. Clinton i. E. A lot of eggs. I hope you come back. Senator harkin was talking about that. 30 million birds. [indiscernible] can you take it, please . Ms. Clinton thanks a lot. Hi, how are you doing. Went to get a picture really quick . Right here, guys. Hillary. How are you . [indiscernible] republican president ial candidate Rick Santorum was among those who took part in the Des Moines Register event. Each candidate gets up to 20 minutes to speak. His remarks were followed by former governor Lincoln Chafee and Bernie Sanders. Book of the face off grid the next speaker is former senator Rick Santorum who is running for the republican nomination for the presidency. Mr. Santorum was first elected to the house of representatives from pens of in two terms in the senate. The winner of the Iowa Republican caucuses. Welcome back to the soap box stage Rick Santorum. Mr. Santorum thank you. I apologize for being two minutes late but i came from a rally at the state capitol. To defund planned parenthood. I was proud to be the only president ial candidate up there talking about how we have to defund planned parenthood. Talking about the reality of what planned parenthood is doing. Videos, andat those i know this because i wrote the law. What they are doing and was described in the videos, partialbirth abortion. Those were done in this case to so theythe vital organs can harvest the babys organs for research and otherness various things. Other nefarious things. Planned parenthood is breaking the law. We need someone in washington who can get done. We have gotten things done. Partiald about the birth abortion statute. Important piece of legislation. Said. S. Supreme court banning partialbirth abortion was unconstitutional. Most people when they have a Court Decision that is against what they believe, they do what most republican candidates do. It is the law of the land and time to move on. When the Supreme Court ask unconstitutionally, the last thing we need to do is move on. We need to stand up and fight. I did. That went to the Supreme Court. Out chapter and verse why the court was wrong. Every branch of government, when itook my oath of office, pledged to uphold the constitution of the u. S. Every president , every branch of government has a responsibility to do it right. When the Supreme Court gets it wrong, it is incumbent on the president and congress to get it right. Im nearly person in the race who has done it. The Supreme Court backed down and that is why partialbirth is illegal today. [applause] mr. Santorum we need leadership on other issues. We are at a point in time in our country where four years ago when i was standing on this stage, we see what is happening around the world. Threats are rising against america, not just from iran but from china and russia and even from central and south america. This president has turned a blind eye, he has deliberately empowered the enemy. He has empowered russia by not holding up to her treaties with ukraine. He has empowered syria. He has empowered iran. He has empowered isis. He has empowered china. Every step of the way, he has been soft with our enemies and very harsh to our allies. We need a leader who will stand for the principles of our government and for our own national security. Not to placate our enemies. To stand with our allies to make sure that our interests are defended. There is nobody in this race has the record that i do on national security. Just about three months ago, isis published a magazine and it comes out on a monthly basis, i am told. Three months ago, my picture was in their magazine. And it was under the headline, in the words of our enemy. It was my picture underneath that. I laid out who they are. And i have put it out very clearly as i have in speeches why and how isis can be defeated. I was put on an isis enemy list. Es and in the men, gentlemen, there is nobody else in this race is on that list and unfortunately, neither is Hillary Clinton. Why am i on that list . Because after 9 11, i have spent the time needed to understand. Toctions that wrought iran the bargaining table. I was the author of those laws sanctions 10 years ago. And you know who fought against me . Joe biden, Hillary Clinton, barack obama. We won. We need a leader who can do, who is going to stand up to defeat isis. Not to contain them. Empower isis to recruit people here in america as well as around the world. We must take back their land, we must destroy their states. If we do not, the incidences that you are hearing about, they will accelerate. They are accelerating. We have not taken the threat seriously. I will take the threat seriously. I will make sure that isis isnt spending their money on new weapons, they are spending their money on body bags, because that is what will happen if you elect me as president. I will defeat isis. [applause] gov. Santorum you need a leader who is going to stand up for the men and women in this country who have been left behind. I know for a fact before from western pennsylvania. The reason i did is because we have seen a continuation for the state of living for the people of america. Sometimes, unless they have an accurate description of the problem, they dont have an accurate conclusion. But that doesnt mean that they arent observing what israel. What is real is a that americans are losing hope. Wages are flat. There are 93 million americans were no longer in the workplace. I will ensure that people have employment and that they will not sit on the sidelines because there is no hope that they cannot come back into the workforce. The democrats response is the same. Give you more money and we will stop pay for medicaid and all of these things. You dont want more government handouts. You want the opportunity to be able to rise to work and provide for yourself and your family, and unfortunately, the Republican Party has been sort of empty in that regard. We talk about Capital Gains and we talk about cutting taxes, but i have a 20 20 vision for america. It is about flat tax of income and corporate income. [applause] gov. Santorum we are going to change the Internal Revenue code and make change and give americans a fair shot. [applause] i will be able to lead and get things done because i have a track record for that in washington, d. C. I know how to work with people and get things done. We ended federal entitlements. Why . Because i wanted to get people back to work and provide incentives for people to be able to provide again in society. And guess what they did . Bill clinton vetoed that bill twice. I kept saying, no, i am not going to give up. We are going to work to get things done because people in this country need it. The welfare rolls were cut in half. That is a good thing. But that is not what happened. Poverty was at its lowest level ever measured in the United States of america. [applause] gov. Santorum you give me the opportunity to go out there with a prowork agenda that says that america is going to be the number one manufacturing country in the world again. We can do that here in america if we have a tax code, a regulatory, an Energy Policy that makes us competitive with the rest of the world. A lot of people talk up the idea of beating these people or winning this are winning that. I have a plan. An actual plan that will put us back on top. Every american will have the opportunity to rise. You are going to be creating jobs for americans of all levels and skill sets will rise. We were once a country that had manufacturing of production. You see it here in iowa, your agricultural economy took off. We need to have that happen in michigan and other states, etc. We have to do this in ohio and michigan and indiana. Why . You see it here in iowa, your because we are talking about people who are hurting in those states. We are talking about people who have been suffering in the rust belt for the last 30 years. I come from the rust belt. My grandfather was a coal miner. My grandfather was an immigrant to this country. They fought for working men and women. Those who fought against bad trade bills like nafta, like i did. The speaker of the house and the chairman of the ways and means committee, i led the charge to make that happen. You want someone who can shake things up and get things done and move this country in a way that this country is just just just anxious for. You need someone to lead us. For the American People to get their pride back again. We need the opportunity to make things and to produce things and to and make not just our country safer but the rest of the world safer. Ladies and gentlemen, you gave me that opportunity in iowa. Four years ago, you gave me that opportunity. Four years ago there was a poll out today and i was at 1 in the polls. Two weeks before the iowa caucus, i was at 2 . But the people of iowa, you did your jobs. You looked at all the candidates and you shuffled through all of the rhetoric. You looked at who actually has accomplished something, has a vision for this country, and can make difference in moving america forward. You are looking for someone who can make america strong and who can stand up and make this country great and who can bring people to jobs back at all levels in our society. You want some of the who can work at all levels to get things done, i know, because i have done it. I only have to ask one thing. Please declare me the winner on caucus night. You stand with me. You got it right last time. I know because the other people didnt get it right. They didnt win. You give us the opportunity to make the case of america being the great country and led by someone who is out there fighting. We can have not just a great victory for the republicans and the conservatives, but more importantly we could have a great victory for america again and you can make people feel good about this country again. Thank you. Thank you very much. God bless the united of america and god bless iowa good morning. Welcome again to the Des Moines Register political so locks so locks. Our next speakers Lincoln Chafee, seeking the democratic nomination for the presidency. As chafee was first elected a city councilman and mayor of rhode island. He became a u. S. Senator representing rhode island and most recently was Rhode Islands governor. He just left in august of january this year. In welcomingg me Lincoln Chafee. Mr. Chaffee good morning. In 2016 the United States of america is going to have a new president. We all know that president barack obama is term limited and we will have a new president. Allamericans in november of 2016 are making a very important choice. How are going to make that choice . I would like to think that first of all you look at past performance, your past record. Second of all, you look at the character people who are running. Do they have courage . Are they honest . Third, what is the vision for the future . What does that individual want to do with our great country for the future generations. Let me go back a little bit and record. First of all, being in iowa i think it is important to say i was a high school and college wrestler. The cyclones in the hawkeyes are some of the best wrestlers ever. It is good to be here. I wrestled all through college. When i got into politics i started at the local level. I was a councilman for four years and the mayor for seven years. I know what it is like to plow the snow when you have a blizzard, to take up the trash, to make your the ballfields are a good shape, make sure your schools are good, police and fire operating efficiently, and keep property taxes down. I would not have been reelected as a councilman or mayor is 11 years i spent at the local level if i not if i was not doing a good job. All those local issues that are so important. Not just in rhode island, but across the country. In city halls in town halls across the country. Doing the Little Things that affect the people. I did it. I went to United States senate and i was there from a very bush and cheney came in, president bush and Vice President cheney came in with very radical agenda, huge tax cuts that there are the wealthy which i voted against. I thought wed finally got the surpluses. Lets not get back into deficits. Those tax cuts were too deep and i was right. September 11 and the war in iraq. And i felt coming up through the vietnam era that we just finished with a terrible quagmire and all the veteran issues we had to deal with. Posttraumatic stress syndrome and all israel issues that come from being in combat. Why get back into another one without good cause . [applause] mr. Chaffee that is right. I did my homework. I went down to the cia and i found that there was no evidence of mass destruction. It was all a hoax. There was never any evidence of wmds. I voted against the war in iraq. The immigration reform, i was one of the only nine original cosponsors of mccainkennedy. Many people talking about it today. 10 years ago i was one of the nine that signed on a path to citizenship and secure borders. I was back then in United States sent working hard to control Carbon Dioxide which is a Climate Change gas, the forefront of environmental issues. Also i was working across the aisle. I was part of the gang of 14 as it was called back then. Seven democrats and seven republicans working together. We need more of that. I was good at that as United States senator. Governor and i was governor of the state of writedown in some economic times, high unemployment, people losing their homes to foreclosure. I had to turn around as governor. I invested in education. I invested in k12. I invested in roads and bridges. I invested in Work Force Development programs. It was not easy. I take those valuable tax dollars to make them work most to benefit the state of rhode island and we had the biggest drop of unemployment in my budgets of any but five states. We also passed Marriage Equality in rhode island. But i thought it was important for the economy. Economies are going to prosper when you have a tolerant society. Just look at all the thriving economies around the United States. Whether it is in cambridge, boston, austin, palo alto. They welcome everybody. The economy is going to do well. I also passed the immigration dream act instate tuition for youngsters that are undocumented that want to go to our state colleges. They dont have to pay outofstate tuitions. Big, big difference. We got that passed. Also was governor romney had the obamacare, Affordable Care act rollout, rhode island was one of the National Leaders in the number of people to sign up for obamacare. It did not just happen. We worked hard. We knew this was good to be a difficult process of getting people to sign up for exchange and we made it happen. One of the best rollouts in the country. Not only as governor getting people back to work, but doing good things for the future of our state. Passing Marriage Equality, the dream act for citizens, the Affordable Care act, one of the best in the country. We also raised the minimum wage three out of my four years as governor, very proud to do that. Leadership making it better for future generations. That is my record. Local officeholder. Councilmen and mayor. Been a United States senator and then as a governor. There is no other candidate running for president , nobody that will stand here republican or democrat that can say they have that experience. I have been at the local level. Ive been at the federal level. Ive been at the state level. That is important as a start this conversation about who we are going to elect to be our next president. Not a lot of learning curve if he spent 11 years at the local level. There is not a lot of learning curve when you spent a lot of years at the lower level. There is not a lot of learning curve if you spent a lot of years in the United States senate. That is important for our next president. There is not a lot of learning curve there. So the vision for the future is the third part. Your record, your character, as i said, being honest and ethical, and when i was on the senate, i served on the Senate Foreign relations committee. I chaired the western hemisphere subcommittee. So i travel through the hemisphere, all of the countries in south america, almost all of the countries in south america. I met with fidel castro in havana, i met with hugo chavez in venezuela, and i met with all the leaders. And then i became chairman of the middle east subcommittee. I have been to israel, i have been to jordan, i have been to afghanistan, i have been to egypt, i have been to lebanon. I have met with many leaders in the middle east. After the mistakes that we made with invading iraq, i felt it was my response ability, my responsibility my responsibility to fix it. A couple of days ago, jeb bush was saying, in 2009, it was mission accomplished, iraq was a secure place. He is drinking some kind of neocon koolaid to think that iraq is secure. We just cannot have those people come back and come back and make the same kinds of mistakes. They are delusional if they think that iraq was secure. Jeb bush was saying mission accomplished. It is delusional. Just like they were saying Saddam Hussein had wmds, it was not truth. What i want to do is work hard to end these wars. End these wars that have been going on too long. We need to get in there just like president obama is doing with the iran nuclear deal. Yes, we need to Work Together and work with the iranians to put this together, yes we can work with the chinese to put this together. That is what we did with the Iranian Nuclear deal. All of the republicans were opposed to it and we cannot break up the middle east for the future generations to create more problems. So those are the reasons i am running, first of all, my record, second of all, all through my public career, all three decades, i never had any scandals. The highest ethical standards. You will never see any kind of ethical scandals or any kind of issues. Courageous votes time and time again, especially the iraq vote under enormous pressure. I have a backbone. I dont flipflop. That is my character. That is my vision for the future, lets end these wars and bring these resources homes for our schools and for around iowa and for around the country. It is going to take resources for our health care, and those wars, bring those resources home. Prosperity does come with peace. It is always what happens. If you get peace, you will have prosperity. So thank you very much for coming to iowa. To the fair, enjoy the fair. A big decision we have in 2016. First of all, its got to be a democrat, second of all, its got to be Lincoln Chafee. Thank you. [applause] does anybody have a question . Someone in back in red with the buttons that say vote . That is a good thing, please vote. [indiscernible] mr. Chafee access to the ballot . Or security . [indiscernible] mr. Chafee they are both important, they are both important. You have to have access on it that is very important, you need to make sure that everybody can vote. Dont have barriers to vote in. We are always striving as Public Officials to have both of those. I know i have in my almost 30 years of public career. Make sure that you count the vote properly. Yes, maam . What are you going to do about the influence that money has in politics . Mr. Chafee good question. Good question, what are my going to do about the influence that money has in politics, and i run a lowbudget campaign. Are we going to have the next president who is all about money or are we going to have some of you like Lincoln Chafee who has the character and has the vision but not necessarily have the money. You decide if it is all about the money. What can we do beyond that . Certainly i voted for Mccain Feingold when i was in the senate, which was a campaignfinance reform. The Supreme Court struck down down parts of mccainkennedy, so there are legal issues on your First Amendment rights to how much you can spend, how much the wealthy can spend, of their own money. I certainly dont want to appoint any Supreme Court justices who want to bend that and keep bending that for the wealthy. [applause] mr. Chafee this country is getting upside down with the money coming i believe in the people. I believe in the people. No, we are not just going to go with the billionaire candidates. Come on, people, stand up. We are not just going to let them tell us how to vote with their deluge of money. Yes, sir . What are your plans for a reliable and affordable power for Rural America . Mr. Chafee my plans for a reliable and affordable power plan for Rural America is to cover six states that is smaller than iowa, and to find out how we can save safe, reliable, affordable power. There were 11 of us and we came up with a packed to get hydropower down from quebec near labrador. We wanted clean, reliable, affordable, just what you are talking about. That is what is good for the rule parts of america. There has got to be more of this in the discussion. We hear about wind and solar and geothermal, but we have got to access some of this hydropower. It is reliable, the rivers flow down hill every day, and it is clean, and that is what we want. In fact, we in the northeast can be the green, lowcost, Energy Capital of north america. That is how important hydropower can be to the mix of clean, reliable hydropower. Yes, sir . [indiscernible] mr. Chafee the question is, how could i dismiss the Yellowcake Uranium that materialized . That question shows that it wasnt accurate, no, no, i went to the cia, and listen to this, i asked them, show me all of the evidence you have, i have to vote on this in three weeks. All of the analysts laid out what they had. There wasnt anything. I was there for one hour. There was just no evidence of weapons of mass destruction. That is the fact. That is the truth. There are some big called the downing street memo that came back that said that the brits were saying that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction, it was another reason, but there were no weapons of mass distraction. It was a huge mistake and now we have to fix it. I am glad i am not the one that drank the koolaid. Yes . Do you agree or disagree with the sec to provide Internet Service under government control . Mr. Chafee that is a technical question about the fcc to provide Internet Service and i will have to catch up with that. I promise. I would like to have a good solid answer. As i said, i am not a flip flopper. I would like to give a good, solid answer. I will get back to you on that. Yes . [indiscernible] fmr. Gov. Chafee and wage stagnation . Like i said, with those tax cuts, we were doing great with those policies, and then bush and cheney came along and they gave tax cuts to the wealthy. How did they get away with that . They also brought back deficits that then created the economy. This cascading sequence of mistakes. I was not buying it. What could be more popular for a politician than to vote for tax cuts . That is the most popular thing a politician can do. I thought it was more important for the future generations to keep the economy chugging along, let the wealthy pay their fair share. I voted against every single bush cheney tax cut. I care about surpluses and i dont like wage stagnation. We are back in repair mode, raising the minimum wage is certainly a part of it. All of these things we have to do to repair the mistakes that were made by the republicans and bush and cheney. Yes, sir . [indiscernible] fmr. Gov. Chafee how would i pick the Supreme Court justice . That is why this election is so important in 2016. Just think about the consequence whether it is the environment or these wars overseas, but probably at the top of the list is the appointment to the Supreme Court because they are lifetime appointments. The strategy has been, i was there for two of them in the senate, and i voted against sam alito and roberts was the other one, but i voted against sam alito because he is against womens reproductive rights and other things. The strategy i said, you get these young justices, they are there for a lifetime. Get them as young as possible, that is the strategy. So they are there for a long time. It is important for the future of our country. So if we look at who we are going to vote for as president , that is going to be at the top of my list. I talk about what type of people i have surrounded myself with over the years and you can be totally confident that i would make good appointments to the Supreme Court, you can be totally confident about that, making good decisions for the upcoming decades. Yes, maam . The jail system we have in this country, and the debt system we have in this country, and it is not the deficit, it is the debt, and it is just getting out of hand. Im sure the bush tax cuts are still the reason. What can we americans do to get the debts down . I am a baby boomer, we are going to be retiring soon, and these kids cant just pay this. Mr. Chafee everyone hear that question . The debt and the deficits and the retiring baby boomers, which i am also. How are we going to pay for it . How are we going to pay for us baby boomers and how are we going to keep Social Security and medicare and all of these important programs going . I would like to go back a little bit and talk about the big tax cut and the 1. 6 trillion spent in the war and i dont how much it is going to cost us, 6 trillion over the next couple of years . Tax cuts are so against the old republican viewpoint of taking care of the books and let people live as they see fit, the old eisenhower approach. I would say again, look at my record. I have been a mayor, i had to balance budgets, at the same time, give the people the services that they want. My time as governor of rhode island, we had a tuition freeze schooling at our colleges because we put the money in. So you have to do both, run an Efficient Organization so you can put the resources where they are most needed, and keep taxes down. That is no different from a business. People in business. And i enjoy it, to be honest, i like the challenge. I want to have good services. I want to keep those taxes down. I enjoy that dynamic of doing both. Oh, thank you [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] again, welcome to the Des Moines Register political soapbox. Im the news director. Thank you very much for coming. Our next speaker is Bernie Sanders. [applause] he, of course, is a u. S. Senator from vermont and he is running for the democratic nomination. Sanders was elected to four terms as the mayor of burlington, vermont, then served in the u. S. House of representatives for three terms, been a u. S. 07 has senator for vermont, elected as an independent. So please welcome to the stage senator Bernie Sanders. [applause] mr. Sanders whoa thank thank you. There are a lot of people here. We had justgo, begun to campaign. Everybody said that this campaign was a joke. Who believes that that the American People are prepared to take on the economic and political establishment of america . [applause] and 3. 5 months have gone by. We have had huge crowds all over america in iowa, new hampshire, california, oregon, you name it. [applause] why, whateople ask me i tell them is, the American People are saying enough is enough. [applause] this country belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires. And before i get going, i want towish a happy birthday Social Security, 80 years old. Let me be very clear. Virtually all of the republican candidates in one form or another want to cut Social Security. [booing] together, we are not going to let them do that. When we have seniors in this country trying to get by on 13,000 a year, disabled people, unable to put enough food on the table, we are not going to cut Social Security. We are going to expand Social Security. By we are going to do that apsting them lifting the c on taxable income. In america today, what we are seeing is the disappearance of the great middle class. We are seeing millions of our brothers and sisters in iowa, vermont, all over this country, working longer hours for lower 2, 3, people are working jobs in order to put food on the table. Newwhile, almost all of the income, all of the new wealth, is going to the top 1 . That is going to change. [applause] we need an economy that works for working people, not a handful of billionaires. [applause] let me tell you something about this Campaign Finance system that we have today. It is a corrupt system. Citizens united will go down in history as one of the worst decisions ever made by a Supreme Court. Let me repeat a promise i have made to other crowds, and that is, no nominee of mine through the Supreme Court will get that position unless he or she pledges to make certain that Citizens United is overturned. [laughter] [applause] and when we try to understand why it is that so many of our family members, friends, neighbors are working two or three jobs in order to cobble together an income and some health care, the answer is that wages in our country for many people are much, much too low. And that is why we have got to recognize that a 7. 25 minimum wage is a starvation wage. We have to move to a living wage, 15 an hour. [applause] what we understand also is that when we live in a competitive global economy, we need the best educated workforce possible. [applause] it makes no sense to me that we have hundreds of thousands of bright, qualified young people who want to get a Higher Education and are unable to do so because their family lacks the income. That is wrong. And that is why i have introduced legislation and will fight for, as president of United States, to make sure that every Public College and university in america is tuitionfree. [applause] and we have also got to deal with the disgrace of outrageously high student debt. [applause] there are millions of americans, young and not so young, who are paying 7 , 8 , 10 on their student debt. If you can refinance a home today, you should not be paying 10 on your student debt. [applause] the government should also not be profiteering on student debt held by workingclass families. [applause] and when we talk about raising the minimum wage to a living wage, we have also got to talk about pay equity for women workers. [applause] women cannot continue to earn . 78 on the dollar compared to men workers. [applause] many of my republican colleagues talk about family values. Their values are that a woman should not have the right to control her own body. I disagree. [applause] their values are that our gay brothers and sisters should not be able to get married or enjoy all of the benefits of american citizenship. I disagree. [applause] but my family values, and i have been married 27 years, i have four kids and seven grandchildren, my family values are that the United States has got to end the International Embarrassment of being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. [applause] when a woman has a baby in this country, regardless of her income, she should be able to spend three months with that baby, getting to know that baby, love that baby, thats a family value. [applause] and when we talk about american values, when we talk about where we want to go as a country, i want to end the absurdity of the United States being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people as a right. [applause] that is why i strongly support a medicare for all singlepayer programs. [applause] and when we talk about our responsibilities as adults, as parents, as citizens of this earth, we have a moral responsibility to make certain that we leave this planet in a way that is habitable for our kids and our grandchildren. [applause] the debate is over. Climate change is real, Climate Change is caused by human activities, Climate Change is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world. What the United States must do and i will do as president , is lead the world, working with other countries to transform our energy system. There is donald trump. [laughter] [chanting] i apologize. We left the helicopter at home. [laughter] in the garage, forgot to bring it. But our job is to make sure that we join the rest of the world, the major countries around the world, in guaranteeing health care to every man, woman, and child as a right of citizenship. It makes no sense to me that despite the gains of the Affordable Care act, we continue to have 35 Million People uninsured and many of you are underinsured, right . High deductibles, high copayments. And yet, after all of that, we end up spending almost twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other country. That is wrong, that has got to change. [applause] let me close on one issue that i know a lot of people are thinking about. The truth is that in america, we have made Real Progress in terms of fighting racism over the years. I want to thank the people of iowa for their courage in voting for obama in 2008. [applause] and what you showed is that a state which is mostly white could go beyond the color of a candidates skin and vote for somebody based on their character and their ideas. Thank you, iowa. [applause] but anyone who reads the papers, anyone who looks at tv, understands that we still have a long way to go. Anyone who has seen the tapes of sandra bland or Samuel Dubose understands that it is unacceptable that africanamericans can get taken out of their cars, thrown to the ground, assaulted, and thrown into jail and die three days later. That is not what this country is supposed to be about. [applause] so you are looking at a candidate who, if elected president , will do everything that he can to end racism and institutional racism in this country and bring about major criminal justice reform. [applause] i was a mayor for eight years, and i worked with our Police Department and the truth is, most cops are good. Very difficult job, they do the right thing. Its a very hard job. But when a Police Officer or any other public official breaks the law, that officer must be held accountable. [applause] today in america, we have more people in jail than any other country on earth, including china. We have a disproportionate number of people in jail who are black or hispanic. So we have a lot of work to do. Number one, i will end this absurdity of having private corporations making billions out of jails. [applause] we are going to end this minimum sentencing by which too many people have criminal records. [applause] and when people go to jail, i want to make sure there is a pathway for them out of jail. [applause] if people leave jail without money, jobs, education, housing, Mental Health issues being dealt with, the likelihood is they are going to end up back in jail and that is pretty crazy. What i want to see, is i want to see us invest heavily in jobs and education, not jail and incarceration. [applause] let me just conclude by telling you one thing that no other candidate will tell you. That is, i need your help obviously to win here in iowa and i appreciate the support of so many people. But, if we are going to transform america, if we are going to have a government that represents working families and not Large Campaign donors, we need a Political Revolution in this country. [applause] we need millions of people to stand up and make it clear to the billionaire class, they cannot have it all. [applause] they are going to start paying their fair share of taxes. [applause] they are go continue to ship out jobs to china and elsewhere. [applause] but to make all of that happen, we need a strong, Grassroots Political Movement from vermont to california and significantly here in iowa. So i welcome and urge all of you to join me in helping to make a Political Revolution which transforms america, which creates a government that works for all of us and not just a handful. Thank you all very much. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] we love you, bernie how will you pay for all these plans you have . This iss pitches the richest country in the world. Most people dont know that. Let me be frank. If you are a billionaire, if you are a millionaire, if you are a , you are goingon to start having to pay your fair share of taxes. One of the important programs we are going to enforce is a tax on wall street speculation. That will bring in more than enough money to make sure that Public Schools are tuitionfree. Im talking about companies that make billions of dollars in profits. You talk more on your specific plans of Climate Change . Sen. Sanders first of all, it , my view is saying different from my republican colleagues on almost every issue. But on this issue, i have to say that it is an International Embarrassment that they refuse to acknowledge what the Scientific Community is saying almost unanimously. That is that Climate Change is real, caused by human activity, and causing devastating results. What we would do, what i would is a stark move towards energy efficiency. We are wasting huge amounts of energy in this country in terms of buildings that are not properly insulated and cars that are getting 20 to 25 miles per gallon. Second of all, we have to be very aggressive in moving towards Sustainable Energies such as wind and i congratulate the people in iowa for being one of the leaders in the company in that area. Solar, geothermal, other forms of technology. We know what we have to do, and we have to lead the world. We cant do it alone. We have to work with other countries. But the future of the planet is at stake and what the scientists tell us is that if we dont get our act together by the end of be century, this planet will five to 10 degrees warmer which will have devastating effects. You talked about race relations. For my entire career, i have had one of the strongest records in the u. S. Congress on civil rights. Come from a state where there are not a lot of africanamericans, but this issue has been part of my life since i was a young man. I think what we have to do is move forward into parallel ways. We have to combat institutional racism as strongly as we can. We cannot continue to see these videos of unarmed black people getting shot, thrown to the ground, its unacceptable and it has to change. Second of all, we need major reforms in our criminal Justice System so that in america, we dont have more people in jail than any other country on earth. Numbers arethose disproportionately africanamerican and hispanic. That has got to change. Are you surprised by black lives matter interrupting your speech . Sen. Sanders the issue they are talking about is huge. Blackare too many unarmed youth killed. They had a right to be there. What do you make of primary politics and iowas role . Sen. Sanders i like what happens here in iowa. What you guys do is so beyond what my state does. People, not only to know the issues of Bernie Sanders or anybody else, but you ask them to really think hard about the differences, who their second choice is, you ask them to actually come out and do more than cast a vote. Of hours talking with their neighbor about why they are supporting Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton or jeb bush or whoever it may be. I happen to be a strong believer in democracy. I want to see people highly engaged in the political process and i think i would do a good job at doing that. A new poll puts you a little bit ahead of hillary in new hampshire. I am the senator of a small state. The American People did not know what i believed in when i started, but they did not know who i was. But i think as we go around the country and iowa, more people are familiar with the issues we are raising and i think these issues are resonating here in iowa, new, and all over the company country. Anything else to say . [indiscernible] sen. Sanders i have got to get going. Thank you. [indiscernible] hi, how are you . [indiscernible] sen. Sanders what the people want is a nation in which government represents working people in the middle class, the vast majority of our people, and not just a handful. What these crowds also tell me is that i believe people are sick and tired of a Campaign Finance system that is corrupt. As a result of Citizens United, it allows billionaires to buy elections. Very few people, whether conservative or progressive, will be better off. Is your campaign able to transition to becoming a real threat . Sen. Sanders when you have 350,000 people making individual contributions and you bring out 28,000 people in portland and los angeles, when you have 100,000 people doing digital campaigning all over the country, we are building a grassroots movement. One of our problems is that the movement is going faster than our infrastructure. We have hired a number of organizers right here in iowa. I think we are up to two dozen or more. We have to keep up with where the movement is going. Day, we will the have the money, we will have the people are i think tired of big money. [indiscernible] sen. Sanders all i know is, what i have been saying today is my whole political life, that we need to make sure that n elderly retired people we need to be expanding Social Security. We need to raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour. I have been talking about those issues for many years and i will continue. Hillary will run her own campaign. Thank you very much. [applause] [indiscernible] sen. Sanders we are having meetings all over the state. 14 reporting officers. We are starting to put together the kind of Grassroots Organization that will be able to get us the win in iowa. People have had it up to here. They are sick and tired of seeing this great nation, a great nation like ours, where all of the wealth is going to the top 1 . They are sick and tired of a Campaign Finance system that allows the billionaires to literally buy elections. Fight and die to protect democracy to have a handful of senators deciding who should rule run. If joe biden gets in, thats great. If he does not, thats great. Its his decision. Are the emails in the private server a distraction or a legitimate issue for democrats to consider . Sen. Sanders you can speak to hillary about that. We are going the wrong way. Yeah. [indiscernible] sen. Sanders the middle class in america is disappearing. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country and the majority of the wealth is going to the top 1 . That is a real issue. A real issue is our Campaign Finance issue system is corrupt. The Supreme Court created a system in which billionaires can buy elections. The United States can no longer go a lounge around the world and lecture countries on democracy. Our country is becoming a system in which billionaires spend unlimited funds of money to elect their choices. Who is corrupt . Sen. Sanders the system. But not any of the people . Sen. Sanders they are obeying the law
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