[indiscernible] senator bernie sanders. [applause] [cheering] sen. Sanders thank you, iowa. Begin by thanking the playing anowa for extraordinary role in transforming politics in america. Four years ago, i stood right up here and i said that if you work 40 hours a week in america, you should not live in poverty. We have to raise that minimum wage to 15 an hour. Workers should find it easier to become members of a union. Four years ago, that seemed like a wild and crazy idea. Since then, seven states and the u. S. Congress have passed legislation raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour. Thank you, iowa, for helping to lead the way. [applause] sen. Sanders four years ago, i came here and i said, you know what . If we want to be the best educated country on earth, we need to make public colleges and universities tuition free. And that idea was considered wild and extreme. Since then, state after state, city after city have done just that. We are going to make public colleges and universities in america tuition free. Four years ago, i said, sounds to me a little bit crazy that we are punishing young people for the crime of getting a Higher Education and finding themselves 50,000 or 100,000 in debt. And i said then and let me say it now more clearly, that in america today, we need to cancel student debt. [applause] sen. Sanders people say, fairly enough, how are you going to pay for all of that, making public colleges and universities tuition free, canceling student debt . I will tell you exactly how we will pay for that. We are going to put a tax on wall street speculation. [applause] sen. Sanders 11 years ago, the people of this country had to bail out the crooks on wall street. Now it is their time to help the working class of this country. Four years ago, i came to iowa and i said, you know, seems to me that we in america should do what every other major country on earth is doing. That is guaranteeing health care to all people as a human right. Guess what . Everybody said that was too radical. American people wont accept it. Yet, the people of iowa understood that there is something wrong when 87 million americans are uninsured or underinsured. Something very wrong with today, 30,000 people a year die because they dont have access to health care. Something awful when 500,000 americans go bankrupt because they cannot afford the incredibly high medical bills that they receive when they got out of the hospital. Something is very wrong when we spent twice as much per capita on health care as the people of any other country, and yet one in five americans cannot afford the cost of Prescription Drugs because the pharmaceutical industry rips us off every single day. I said that four years ago and the people of iowa said bernie, you are right. Since then, what we have seen is poll after poll that the American People want us to move to a medicare for all singlepayer program. [applause] sen. Sanders that means no deductibles. That means no copayments, no premiums, no outofpocket expenses. Freedom of choice to go to any doctor, any hospital, and we are going to phase that in under four year period. We will make sure elderly people get dental care, hearing aids, and eyeglasses that they need as well. Four years ago, i came here to iowa and i was asked, what is the nature of National Security issues . People would say isis or al qaeda. The answer that i gave in terms of National Security is Climate Change. [applause] sen. Sanders let me tell you what this campaign is about and what makes it different than any other campaign that is out there. That is what i know and you know, that real change never, ever takes place from the top on down. The only place in our country that we have ever seen real change, whether it is the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the womens movement, the gay movement, the only way that change ever takes place is when millions of people stand up and say it loudly and clearly, enough is enough. Im asking you today, i need your help in order for us to win here for iowa. I need your help to win the democratic nomination. I need your help to defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country. The function of a president is to bring our people together, not divide us up. We should not be having a president , and honestly, it gives me no pleasure to say, but we cannot maintain a presidency where the president is a racist, where he is a sexist, where he is a homophobe, a xenophobia, where he is a religious bigot. [applause] and by the way, also a pathological liar. [applause] sen. Sanders what our job is, and where i need your help, we have to win in iowa and we have to win the democratic nomination, but we have got to stand together, black and white and latino, native american, asian american, gay and straight, immigrant, american born, we have to stand together around an agenda that works for all of us, not just the 1 . [applause] will you stand with me when we take on the greed of wall street . [cheers and applause] will you stand with me when we told the pharmaceutical industry that we are going to cut Prescription Drug prices in this country in half . Will you stand with me when we tell the private Insurance Industry that the function of health care is to provide quality care to all, not have a Health Care Industry that last year made 100 billion in profits . Will you stand with me to take on the Healthcare Industry and move this country through medicare for all . [cheers and applause] sen. Sanders what the scientists tell us is that what Donald Trump Tells us about Climate Change is a hoax. Donald trump does not know what hes talking about. What the scientists tell us, unlike donald trump, is that not only is Climate Change real, but if we do not get our act together in the next 12 years, there will be irreparable damage done to our country in the entire world. And that is why together, we will stand up to the fossil fuel industry. Together, we will tell the Oil Companies and the Coal Companies and the Gas Companies that their shortterm profits are not more important than the future of this planet. Together, we understand that we have a moral responsibility to leave this country and this planet in a way that is healthy and habitable for our children and our grandchildren. [applause] together, we are going to pass comprehensive immigration reform, not demonize immigrants. [applause] together, we are going to pass real criminal justice reform, and not have more people in jail than any other country. [applause] sen. Sanders what this campaign is about and why i am confident we are going to win here in iowa or New Hampshire, nevada and South Carolina and in california, is a working class of this country is sick and tired of being devastated. Sick and tired of having to work longer hours for wages, sick and tired of worrying that their kids will have a lower standard of living than they do. We will win the campaign because the women of this country understand that it is not politicians who control a womans body, but the women themselves. [cheers and applause] we are going to win this election because the American People understand that it is immoral and bad economics that we have three people in this country who own more wealth than the bottom half of the American People. That it is wrong that the top 4 1 has more than the bottom 92 per their brothers and 92 . Brothers and sisters, we have two tasks in front of us. First, we have to defeat donald trump and we have to bring our country back together again as one people. [applause] and second of all, what we have got to do is compel wall street and to tell the Insurance Companies and Drug Companies and the fossil fuel industry and the militaryindustrial complex and the Prison Industrial Complex that they cannot have it all, that our economy and our government belongs to all of us, not just the 1 . [applause] sen. Sanders brothers and sisters, this is an unprecedented and monumental moment in american history. We do not have the luxury of becoming depressed, the luxury of throwing up our hands in despair. This is the moment that history will judge us by. This is the moment we stand up to racism and divisiveness. This is the moment we bring our people together, and we create an economy and a government not dominated by the billionaires, but an economy and a government that works for all of us. Thank you all very much. [cheers and applause] [chanting] sen. Sanders we have more volunteers here in iowa and we have received more contributions than any other campaign has raised. And we had a great staff that is mobilizing our grassroot supporters. I have absolute confidence we will win here in iowa. We are doing well in New Hampshire as well. We are doing much better in South Carolina that i thought we would. We are going to win in california as well. I am delighted to see the recent beating donaldre trump. It points ahead, consistent with many polls that i have seen. Number one, the American People, regardless of points of view, understand we cannot have the president of the United States who is a racist, a pathological liar, demonizing undocumented people in this country. No matter what your point of view, the American People are repelled by that type of behavior. The second thing and the reason i believe we are going to win is the working class of the country understands there is something wrong when, over the last 30 years, we have seen the top 1 see a 21 trillion increase in wealth and the bottom half of america, a 900 billion decline in wealth. This incredibly grotesque level of income and inequality is unfair and unsustainable and the American People want an economy that works for everybody, not just large corporations on the 1 . That has been our message. And as i mentioned, i really do want to thank the people of iowa. They obviously play an oversized role in the process as the first caucus. When i came here four years ago and talked about some of these issues, they were considered to be crazy ideas and yet in four years, because the people of iowa had the courage to vote their conscience and give us half the caucus vote and we went on to win New Hampshire and 22 states. Iowaed our ideas showed that our ideas are not radical or far out. They are exactly what the American People want and wanted four years ago. We are feeling really good. I think we are going to win in iowa and win the democratic nomination. I am absolutely confident were are going to defeat the most dangerous president in modern american history, donald trump. Reporter this was a breakout moment for you in 2015. How does it feel now . Sen. Sanders it feels great. I know how this crowd compares to other crowds. It looks like there is a pretty good crowd. We have a whole lot of support here at the state fair, and all over the state. We have done many meetings and rallies and the turnouts and support are great. I am quite confident we are going to win. Reporter you said you support licensing for assault weapons. Would you support federal licensing for all of them . Sen. Sanders 30 years ago, i ran for u. S. Congress, 1988 in vermont. And i said 30 years ago that assault weapons are weapons of war. They are designed to kill people. In very rapid ways. We saw that in las vegas and we have seen it recently in dayton and el paso. I believe then and now that we should ban the sale of them and if you own an assault weapon, i that weapon should be licensed. But in terms of guns, here is the main point. Some people say the americans are divided on guns. But i do not think that is the case. I think the American People are understanding that we have to expand background checks. People want to do away with the loopholes. More and more people want to ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons so i think the impediment to what the American People want is what we see in congress all over the place whether it is raising the minimum wage or healthcare for all, it is the power of corporate entities in this case the n. R. A. For too long, let me be as clear as i can be, it has been the n. R. A. Intimidating President Trump and the Republican Party and writing gun policy in america. The American People want that changed. Every time one of these big how should ens, concerns . St and you stop and you think and you think about how the American People respond to very, very, very sick people who walk into a mall or walk into a nightclub area, walk into a school and shoot down children. It is unspeakable and it is almost incomprehensible. Oure right. What i have demanded. Let me state it again if i havent been as clear as i can be. That is Mitch Mcconnell should call back the United States senate today. Ill get on a plane. Ill be in d. C. So that we can pass the gun safety legislation passed in the house and do better. Lets have a conversation about the best way forward. But youre right. We cannot continue to not ask and the congress cannot have gun policy written and dictated by the n. R. A. The snar way out of touch with where the American People are and with where gun owners are. I come from a very rural state like iowa. God knows how many people in my state own guns that do hunting but like every other person in this country, they are apaled by what they have seen. We have to stand up to n. R. A. And do better. Inaudible] i called as a matter of fact, i think if you check the record youll find out that probably i was one of the very first, maybe the first i dont know, president ial candidate to say that President Trump is a racist. He was a racist before he became president. He was the leader of the Birther Movement which tried to dehe jit mize the presidency of barack obama. I responded last week that he is a white supremacist. One at a time. I think you might want to check the polls again. Were feeling great. What i believe and as i said if you look at the polling of since the debate, actually there was a study out there, we did better. We advanced more than any other candidate. I feel good about that there has not been one National Poll which had donald trump defeating me. I think a poll came out the other day that had us eight points ahead of him. Im absolutely confident that were going to win here and that were going to win the democratic nomination. Biden inaudible] look. Everybody, you know, people will say that they say. I have said before trump even announced his candidacy, when you have an individual, a billionaire who is fanning the flames of hatred and telling the American People that barack obama was not born in the United States, a total lie, if that is not being racist, i dont know what being a racist is. Everybody else, i cant tell all the candidate what is to do. But that is my view and thats what i believe. Ill tell you this. I speak now not just as a senator from vermont and not just as a president ial candidate. I say this absolutely, you know, with the deepest sin air isity. I never believed in my life that i would have to deal with a president who is not only racist , t a sexist, but homophobe, someone who is demonizing immigrants in this country. A religious bigot. This is the first president we have ever had who has been so overt in his desire to divide us up. He thinks what trump believes hat his path toward victory, dividing the American People, getting us to hate immigrants and muslims or whatever it may be. But i think he is very wrong. I think the American People are a lot smarter than and i believe that the American People want a president wholl bring us together and a president who has the courage to take on the incredible corporate greed that is currently taking place. Some of you may know that literally two weeks ago today i took a trip to canada with a group of people from the midwest who are dealing with diabetes. We bought insulin in canada for 1 10 of the price that is being charged in america. Turns out that one quarter of the people in this country who use insulin have to ration their american. The American People are sick and tired of that greed and they want a president who has the guts to stand up to people. Drug companies to stand up to the Insurance Companies. Healthcare industry stri made 100 billion in profit last year. Let me be the first the tell you the function of healthcare is not to make huge profits for the Drug Companies and the Insurance Companies. The function of a rational Healthcare System is to guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right. Im very proud that medicare for all is gaining more and more momentum every day. Why is it you have to understand what the people are talking about. You can use any phrase. Talk about universal healthcare. Healthcare for all. What does it mean . Some of you may know i wrote the i know a little bit about it. Let me explain to you what medicare for all means to me and most americans. That means firs