Transcripts For KNTV 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate 20240714

New york senator, kiersten jill brand. California senator calculators calculators. John hickenlooper. Bernie sanders, california congressman eric swalwell. Author, marianne women some pson and former tech executive. Andrew chang. The 2020 democratic debate. Live from the perform, arts center in miami, florida. And good evening. Welcome to the candidates and our very own audience here tonight. We are centered across america tonight. We continue the spirited debate about the future of the country and attacking the biggest problems and getting to heart of the biggest issues. Tonight we will talk about healthcare, immigration, we will dive into the economy and Climate Change as well. As a quick rules of the road before we begin. They may sound familiar. 20 candidates qualify for this first debate. As we said we heard from ten last night. We will hear from ten more tonight. The breakdown for each night was selected at random. The candidates will have 60 seconds to answer. 30 second for any followups. Because of the large field of candidates, not every person is going to be able to weigh in on every topic. Over the course of the next two hours, we will hear from everyone. We love our audience. But wed like to ask them to keep their reactions to a minimum. Were not going to hold back on making sure the candidates stick to time. So, for that business taken care of, lets get to it. We will start today with senator sanders. Good evening to you. You called for big, new government benefits like universal healthcare and free college. In a recent interview you said you suspected americans would be quote delighted to pay more taxes for things like that my question to you is, will taxes go up for the middle class in a Sanders Administration and, if so, how do you sell that to voters . Well, are you quite right. We have a new vision for america and at a time when we have three people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of america, while 500,000 people are sleeping out on the streets today, we think it is time for change, real change. And by that, i mean, that health care in my view is a human right. And we have got to pass a medicare for all single payer system. Under that system, by the way, thats majority of the people in this country will be paying significantly less for healthcare than they are right now. I believe that education is the future for this country. And that is why i believe that we must make public colleges and universities tuition free and eliminate student debt and we do that by placing a tax on wall street. Every proposal that i have brought forth is fully paid for. . Senator sanders, im give you ten seconds to answer the very direct question, will you raise toxs for the middle class in a Sanders Administration . People who have healthcare under medicare for all will have no premiums, no deductibles, no copayments, no out of pocket expenses, yes, they will pay more in taxes but less in healthcare for what they get. Thank you, senator. Senator bennett, were going to get to everybody, senator biden, promise, everybody will get in here, promise. Vice president biden, senator sanders, as you know, has been calling for a revolution. Recently in remarks to a group of wealthy donors as you were speaking about the problem of nikkei a income and equality. You said we shouldnt demonize the rich, no one has to be punished. No ones standard of living would change. Nothing would fundamentally change. What did you mean by that . What i meant by that is, look, donald trump thinks middle class built america. Ordinary citizens built america. My dad had a, way, its about looking your kid in the eye and saying everything will be okay. Too many people middle class and poor had the bottom fall out under this proposal. What im saying is we have to be straight forward. We have to understand to return dignity to the middle class they have to be insurance that is covered and they can afford it. They have tobacco maur when youre in is situation where there is continuing education, theyre able to pay for it. They have to make sure they are able to breathe air that is clean and they have water that they can drink. Look, donald trump has put us in a horrible situation. With dough enormous income and equality. The one thing i agree on is we can make massive cuts in the 1. 6 trillion if tax loopholes out there, i would be going about eliminating Donald Trumps tax cuts for the wealthy. Vice president biden, thank you. Senator harris, their a lot of talk in this primary about if you government benefits, such as student loan cancellation, free college, healthcare and more. Do you think that democrats have a responsibility to explain how they will pay for every proposal they make along those lines . Well, let me tell you something, i hear that question, but where was that question when the republicans and donald trump passed a tax bill that benefits the top 1 and the biggest corporations in this country contributing at least 1 trillion to the debt of america, which middle class families will pay for one way or another. Working families need support and need to be lifted up, and, frankly, there economy is not working for working people. For too long, the rules have been written in the favor of the people who have the most and not in favor of the people who work the most. Which is why i am propose tag we change tax code, so for every family that is making less than 100,000 a year, they will receive a tax credit that they can collect up to 3500 a month, which will make all the difference between those families get through the end of the month with dignity and support and day one i will repeal that tax bill that benefits the 1 in the biggest corporations of america. Senator harris, thank you. Governor, you warned that democrats will lose in 2020 if they embrace socialism as you put it. You were booed at the California Democratic convention when you said that. Only one candidate on this stage, senator sanders, identifies himself as a democratic socialist. What are the policies or positions of your opponent that you think are veering toward seeshlism . Wel socialism . Well, i think bhot to him line is we do not declare we are not socialists, the republicans will come to us every way we can and call us socialists. If you look at the green if you deal. I admire the sense of doing Climate Change, im a scientist. We cant promise every american a job, if you want universal healthcare coverage, i believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. You cant eliminate private insurance for 180 Million People many who dont want to give it up. In colorado, we got business and healthcare together. We had universal healthcare coverage. We were the first stage to bring you the Environmental Community to address aggressively address methane emissions. We were also the first place to expand reproductive rights on a scale basis and we reduced teen pregnancy by 54 . Weve done the big, progressive things that people said couldnt be done. Ive done what pretty much everyone else up here is still talking about doing. Governor, thank you. Senator sanders, ill give you a chance to weigh in here. What is your response to those who say nominating a socialist would reelect donald trump . Well, i think the responses at the poll, the last poll i saw had us ten points ahead of donald trump. Because the American People understand that trump is a phony, that trump is a pathological liar, and a racist, and that he lied to the American People during his campaign. He said he was going to stand up for working families. Well, President Trump, you are not standing up for working families when you try toy throw 32 Million People off the healthcare that they have and 83 of your packs benefits go to the top 1 . Thats how we beat trump. We expose him for the fraud that he is. Senator gillibrand. I disagree with both the perspectives. The debate we are having in our party right now confusing. Ba us the truth is there is a big difference between capitalism on the one hand and greed on the other. And so all the things that were trying to change is when Companies Care more about profits when they do about people so if you are talking about ending gun violence, its the greed of the nra and the gun manufacturers that make any progress impossible. Its the greed of the Insurance Companies and the Drug Companies, when we want to try to get healthcare as a right and fought a privilege. Thank you. There may not be disagreement in the party. We dont want corrupted capitalism. Thank you. I want to be fair to all the candidates. For bennett. You have said, quote, its possible to write policy proposals that have no basis in reality. You might as well call them candy. Were you referring to any candidate or proposal in particular when you said that . Was that directed to me . Yes. That sound like me. Thank you. It was you. I appreciate it. First of all, i a agree completely with bernie the fundamental am challenge we face as a country is 40 years of no Economic Growth for 90 of the American People. 160,000 families int top. 1 have the same wealth as the bottom 90 . Weve got the worst income and equality weve had in 100 years. Write disagree on his solution med compare for all. You know, i have proposed getting to universal healthcare, which we need to do. It is a right. Healthcare is a right. We need to get to universal healthcare. I believe the way to do that is by finishing the work we started with obamacare and creating a public option that every family and every person in america can make a choice for their family about whether they want a public option, which for them would be like having medicare for all or whether they want to keep their private insurance. I believe we will get there much more quickly if we do that. Bernie, if i could just finish, bern fimentioned that the taxes we would have to pay, because of those tacks, vermont rejected medicare for all. Senator, senator we are going to talk about healthcare at length, senator, but for the moment, my colleague has questions. I wrote the part in senator sanders bill that is the transition, which merges what the two senators said. The truth is if you have a buyin, over a four or fiveyear period you move us to single payer more quickly. Senator, we will get to this. We will get to this. Before we do, i want to say hello and good evening but ueno suspicion nachos to senator buttigieg. Many support state college. Do you not. Why not . So College Affordability is personal for us. We have six figure student debt. I believe in reducing student debt, its logical to me if you can refinance your house you should be able to refinance your student debt. I believe in free college for low and middle income students for whom costs could be a barrier. I just dont believe it makes sense to ask working class families to subsidize even the children of billionaires. I think the children of the wealthiest americans can pay at least a little of tuition. While i want tuition costs to go down, i dont think we can buy down every last penny for that. There is Something Else that doesnt get talked about in the college of affordability debate. Yes, it needs tore more affordable to go to college. And it need to be more affordable to not go to college. You should be able live well, afford rent, generous to your church and little leak. Whether you went to college or not, thats one of the reasons you need to raise the minimum wage to at least 15 an hour. I have a 100,000 Student Loan Debt for myself. If i cant count on the people around when this problem was created to be the ones to solve it. It will be if nethe next genera the 40 million of us who cant start a business and cant buy our first home. This is the generation that will be able to solve Student Loan Debt. This generation is ready to lead. Reporter mr. Yang, your signature policy is to give every adult in the United States 1,000 a month, no questions asked. Thats right. I think its like 3. 2 trillion a year. How would do you that . Sorry . How would do you that . Oh, so, its difficult to do if you have Companies Like amazon, trillion Dollar Tech Companies paying literally zero in taxes while theyre closing 30 pfrs of our stores. Now we need to put the American People to benefit from these parts of the economy and if we had a valueadded tax even half the european level it would generate over 800 million in new revenue, which combined in our hand, it would be the trickle up economy. We would spend the money and it would circulate through our neighborhoods creating millions of jobs, making our families stronger and healthier. Wed safe money on incarceration, homelessness services, emergency room, healthcare and the value gains from having a stronger, healthier mentally population would increase gdp by several hundred billion dollars. This is a move we have to make as technology is automating millions of jobs. President trump is president because we automated jobs in michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania and wisconsin. Were about to do the same thing to many retail jobs, fast food drobs, Truck Driving jobs throughout the economy. If i get to understand a little better, you are saying 1,000 a month for everyone over 18 but a valueadded tax so you can spend that there are 1,000 on valueadded tax . Well, the valueadded tax would end up, youd still be increasing the buying power of the bottom 94 of americans. You have to spend a lot of mo infor a value added tax per individual. For the average family with two or three adults, it would be 24 to 36,000 a year. Congressman swalwell, talk and what mr. Yang talked about. Many american versus self driving cars, robots, drones, artificial intelligence, lit cost them their jobs. What would you do to help people get the skills they need to adapt to this new world . We must always be a country where Technology Creates more jobs than it displaces. And ive seen the anxiety across america, where the manufacturing floors go from 1,000 to 200 to 1. So we have to modernize our schools, value the teachers who prepare our kid. Wipe the student debt from any teacher that goes into a community that need it. Invest in americas communities, especially where places where the best exports are people that move away to get skills. But, jose, i was sixyearsold when a president ial candidate came to the California Democratic convention and said, its time to pass the torch to a new generation of americans. That candidate was then senator joe biden. Joe biden was right when he said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of americans that years ago. Hes still right today. If were going to solve the issues of the nation, pas the torch. If were going to solve the issue of climate chaos, pass the torch. If we are going to solve school violence, pas the torch. Vice president , would you like to sing a torch song . I would. Im Still Holding on to that torch. I want to make it clear to you. Look, the fact of the matter is what we have to do is make sure everybody is prepared better to go on educate for an education. The fact is thats why i proposed us focusing on schools that are in distress. Thats why i think we should triple the amount of money we spend for title 1 schools. Thats why i think we should have universal prek. Thats why i think every Single Person who graduates from high school, 65 out of 100 now need something beyond high school and we should provide for them to be able to get that education. Thats why there should be Free Community college, cutting in half the cost of college. Thats why we should be in a position where we do not have anyone pay back student debt when they get out, theyre making less than 25,000 a year. Their debt is frozen. Nopayment until they get beyond that. We cant put people in a position where they arent able to go on and move on. So, folks, there is a lot we can do. But we have to make continuing education available for everyone so that everyone can compete in the 21st century. Were not doing that now. Senator sanders. The youngest guy on the stage, i feel i probably need to speak for my generation. A part of joes generation. A port of joes generation, let me respond. Before we move on before we move on from education. Please, please. For sanders. The issue is who has the guts to take on wall street . To take on the fossil fuel industry . To take on the big money inthos have unbelievable influence over the economic and political life of this country. These issues for harris, for harris. We will let all of you speak. Senior harris. We will let you all speak. Senator harris. Hey, guys, you know what, america does not want to witness a food fight. They want to know how we will put food on their table [ applause. [ applause ] so, on that point, part of the issue that is at play in America Today and weve all been traveling around the country. I certainly have. Im meeting people who are working two and three jobs. You know this president walks around talking about and throughouting his great economy. Right. My great economy. My great economy. Yeah, how are you measuring this greatness of this economy of yours . And he talks about the stockmarket. Well, thats fine if you own stocks. So many families in america do not. You ask him how are you measuring the greatness of this economy of yours . They point to the jobless numbers the and unemployment 234bs. Yeah, people are working, theyre working two and three jobs. When we talk jobs, lets be really clear, in our america, no one should have to work more than one job to have a roof over their head and food on the table. Thank you very much. You have all expressed an interest in talking about healthcare. So lets talk about healthcare. And this is going to be a show of hands question. We asked a question about healthcare last night that spurred a lot of discussion as you know. We will do it again now. Many watching at home have Health Insurance at their employer. Who here would abolish their private Health Insurance in favor of a governmentrun plan . All right. Chris turn gillibrand. Senator gillibrand. Now its my turn. Good. This is a very important issue. So the plan that senator sanders and i and others support medicare for all is how you get to single pay taken. But it has a buyin transition period. Which is really important. In 2520 in 2005 i ran for medicare for all i won that district twice. The way i formulated, it was simple. Anyone that doesnt having a says to insurance they like. They can buy into a percentage of income they can afford. We put in a transition period for our medicare for all plan. I believe we need to get to universal held healthcare for a right. The quickest way you get there is create competition with the insurers. God bless the insurers if they want to compete. That i can certainly try. Theyve never put people over her to prof tre their profits. I doubt they ever will. Your step to single payer is so short i would make it an earned benefit, just like Social Security. So that you buy in your whole life. It is always there is for you and its permanent and universal. Senator, your time is up. I want to put that same question to mayor buttigieg. Yeah. Weve talked, look, everybody who says medicare for all, every person in politics who allows that phrase to escape their lips, has a responsibility to explain how youre actually supposed to get from here to there. Now, heres how i would do it. Its very similarly i. I would call it medicare for all who want it. You take Something Like medicare, a flavor of that, make it available on the exchanges. People can buy in. If People Like Us are right that will be not only a more inclusive plan a more Efficient Plan then it will be a natural glide path to the single payer environment. Lets remember, even in countries that have outright socialized medicine, like england, even there, theyre a private sector. Thats fine. Its just for our primary care we cant be relying on the tender mercys for the corporate system. This is personal for me. I started out dealing with a terminal illness for my father. I make decisions for a living. Nothing could prepare me for decisions our family face. The thing we had going for us we never had to base the decision based on it was going to bankrupt our family because of medicare. I want everyone to have that freedom to do what is medically right. Your time is complete. Vice president biden, i want to put the question to you, you were one of the architects of obamacare so where do we go from here . Look, this is very personal to me. When my wife and daughter were killed in an automobile accident, my two boys were very badly injured, i couldnt imagine what it would be like to have fought had adequate healthcare immediately. When my son came from home from traumatic u iraq after a year, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given months to live. I cant fathom if they said the last six ways you are on your own, were cutting you off. The fact of the smatter to build on obamacare. To build on what we did. Secondly, to make sure that everyone does have an option, everyone whether they have private insurance, employer insurance or no insurance, they, in fact, can buy in the exchange to a medicarelike plan. The way to do that, we can do it quickly. Urgency matters. Tears people right now facing what i faced and what weve faced without any of the help i had. We must move now. Im against any democrat who opposes, takes down obamacare and then a republican who wants to get rid of it. Senator sanders, you have basically want to strap the private Health Insurance system as we know it and replace it with a governmentrun plan. None of the states that have tried Something Like that, california, vermont, new york struggled with it, have been successful. If politicians cant make it work in those states, how would it make it work on a National Level . How would it work . I find it hard to believe that every other major country on earth, including my neighbor fist miles north of me, canada, somehow has figured out a way to provide healthcare to every man, woman and child and in most cases theyre spending 50 per capita what we are spending. Lets be clear. Let us be very clear. The function of healthcare today from the insurance and drug Company Perspective is not to provide quality care to all at a Cost Effective way. The function of the Healthcare System today is to make billions in profits for the Insurance Companies and last year if you could believe it, while we paid the highest price in the world for Prescription Drugs, and i will low the Prescription Drug prices in half in this country Top Ten Companies make 69 billion in profit. They will spend hundreds of millions of dollars lying to the American People, telling us why we cannot have a medicare for all single payer program. I have to knoll low up there. How do you implement it on a National Level . Im sorry. How do you implement it on a National Level despite its not succeeded. I will tell you how we will do it. How real change has always taken place. Whether it was the labor move movement,cism rights movement, we will have it for all when tens of millions are prepared to stand up to date and tell the Insurance Companies and the Drug Companies that their day is gone, that health care is a human right not something to make huge profits on. Mr. Williamson, this is a question for you. Excuse me, im addressing the question, miss williamson, we have been talking about access to Health Insurance. For Many Americans the most pressing concern is the high cost of healthcare. How would you lower the cost of Prescription Drugs . First of all, the government should have never made a deal with big pharma, that was a part of the corruption multinational corporations had their way with us. I agree with senator bennett and others, i agree with almost everything here. I tell you one thing, its really nice we have all these plans, if you think were going to beat donald trump having all these plans, you got another thing coming. Because he didnt win by saying he had a plan. He won by simply saying make America Great again. We got to get deeper than these superficial physicals as important as they are. Even if we just talk about the superficial system, ladies and gentlemen, we dont have a healthcare in the United States. We have a sickness care system in the United States. We wait until somebody gets sick and talk about who will pay for the treatment and how theyre going to be treated. What we need to talk about is why so Many Americans have unnecessary chronic illnesses, so many more compared to other countries and that gets back into not just the big pharma, not just health Insurance Companies, it has to do with chemical policies, it has to do with environmental policies. It has to do with food policy. It has to do with drug policy. It even has to do with environmental policy. Senator bennett. You want to keep the system we have in place with obamacare and build on it. You mentioned that a moment ago. Is that enough to get us to universal Health Coverage . I think that itself the quickest way to get there. I thought Vice President was moving and mayor pete. I had Prostate Cancer as you know, the same week my kid had a rapidectomy. I think thats what the American People want. Americans want this choice. I believe it will get us there quickly. There are millions of people in america that do not have Health Insurance today because theyre too wealthy, wealthy, they make too much money to be on medicaid. They cant afford Health Insurance. When senator sanders says that canada is single payer, there are 35 Million People in canada. There are 330 Million People in the United States, easily the number of people on public option, they could easily be 35 million and for them it would be medicare for all as mayor buttigieg says, but for others that want to keep it, they should if able to keep it. And i think that will be the fastest way to get where we need to go. Also, bernie is a very honest person. He has said over and over again, unlike others that have supported this legislation, over and over again that this will ban, making it legal, all insurance, except cosmetic. Except insurance for i guess thats for plastic surgery. Everything else is banned under the medicare for all proposal. Id like you to go longer. Obviously, senator sanders you get a response here. You know, mike, medicare is the most popular Health Insurance program. I agree. In the country. People dont like their private Insurance Companies, they like their doctors and hospitals. Under our plan, people go to any doctor they want, any hospital they want. We will substantially lower the costs of healthcare in that country because well stop the greed of the Insurance Companies. On this issue, we have to think. One at a time, senator horizon. Of the people. And the reality of how this affects real people is captured in a story that many of us heard and i will paraphrase. There is any night in america a parent whos seen their child has a temperature out of control. Calls 911, what should i do . They say, take the child to the emergency room. So they get in their car and they drive and theyre sitting in the parking lot outside of the emergency room looking at thossliding glass doors while they have the hand on the forehead of their child, knowing that if they walk through those sliding glass doors, even though they have insurance, they will be out of 5,000 deductible, a 500 deductible when they walk through those doors. Thats what Insurance Companies are doing in America Today. We will continues this discussion. I want to put it. Candidates, please. Candidates, please. Im one of those parents, i was just in the emergency room. Congressman, thank you. We fight health Insurance Companies every single week. We stand in line and pay expensive Prescription Drugs. We have to have a healthcare guarantee. If you are sick you are seen and in america you never go broke because of it. Okay. A lot of you have been talking tonight about these government Healthcare Plans that you have proposed in one form or another. This is a show of hands question. Hold them up for a moment so people can see. Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants . Okay. Let me start with you, mayor bute gig. Why . Mayor bute gig, why . Because our country is healthier when everybody is healthier. And remember, were talking about something, people are given a chance to buy into. In the same way there are undocumented immigrants in my community, who pay. They pay sales taxes. They pay property taxes directly or indirectly. This is not about a handout. This is an insurance program. And we do ourselves no favor by having 11 million undocumented people in our country be unable to access healthcare. Of course, the real problem is we shouldnt have 11 million undocumented people with no pathway to citizenship. It makes no sense. And the American People the American People agree on what to do. This is a crazy thing. If leadership consists of forming a consensus around a divisive issue, this white house has divide us around a consensus issue. The American People want a pathway to citizenship, we need to clean up the lawlessness system. As a part of a compromise, walk cant deliver on something the American People want. What does that tell you about the system we are living in . It tells you we use profound structural reform. Thank you. Vice president biden, i believe id said your Healthcare Plan would not cover undocumented immigrants. I beck your pard zbln i believe you did not raise your hand . No, i did. Sorry. So you said they would be covered under your plan . Yes. Which is different than obamacare. You can explain that change in. Yes, you cannot let as the mayor says people who are sick no matter where they come from, no matter what their status go uncovered. You cant do that its got to be taken care of. Period. Have you to its a human thing to do. Heres the deem, hes right about three things. Number one, they, in fact, contribute to the wellbeing of the country. They also, for example, theyve increased the life span of Social Security because they have a job, theyre paying Social Security tax. Thats what theyre dock. Its increased the life span. They would do the same thing in terms of reducing the overall costs of healthcare by then being able be treated and not waiting to be an extremist. The other thing we can deal with the Insurance Companies by number one putting insurance executives if jail for the misleading advertising, what theyre doing on opioids what theyre doing paying doctors to prescribe. We could be doing this by making sure everyone who is on medicare, that the government should be able to negotiate the price for whatever the drug costs are. We can do this by making sure that were in a position that we, in fact, allow people times up . Hold off a minute. We need to take a short break here. We have a lot more to talk to all of you ability. Stay with us. Were just getting started. Well be right back from miami right after this. When i showed my mom the dna results, it made her feel proud. They saw us, they recognized us. Ancestry specifically showed the regions that my family was from. The state of jalisco. The city of guadalajara. The results were a reflection of our family and the results were really human. I feel proud about my identity. New features. Greater details. Richer stories. Get your dna kit today at ancestry. Com. Welcome back from miami. Jose is going to lead off the question in this round. Thank you very much. Senator harris. Last month more than 130,000 migrants were apprehended at the southern border. Many of them are being detained, including small children and private Detention Centers, in florida and throughout our country. Most of the candidates on this stage say the conditions of these facilities are abhorrent. On january 20ing, 2021, if you are president , what specifically would you do with the thousands of people who try to reach the United States every day and want a better life through asylum . Immediately on january 20th of 2021, i will, first of all, we cannot forget our daca recipients. I will start there. I will immediately by executive action reinstate daca status and daca protection to those young people. I will further extend protection for definitely of deportation for their parents and for veterans who we have so many who are undocumented and have served our country and fought for our democracy . I will also immediately put in place a meaningful process for reviewing the cases for asylum. I will release children from cages. I will get rid of the private Detention Centers and i will ensure that this microphone that the president of the United States holds in her hand is used in a way that is about reflecting the values of our country and not about locking children up, spralting them from their karnparents and i have to we have to think of this issue in terms of real people. A mother who pays a kyoato transport her child to through their country of origin, through the entire country of mexico, facing unknown peril to come here, why would that mother do that . I will tell you. Because she has decided for that child to remain where they are is worse. But what does donald trump do . He says, go back to where you came from. That is not reflective of our america and our values and it got to end. Governor hickenlooper, day one, if you are day one at the white house. How do you respond . Let me get to you in just a second. Im sorry. Governor. Day one. Thousands of men, women and children cross the border asking for asylum for a better life. What do you do . One, day one, hour one . Well, certainly the images weve seen this week just compound the emotional impact that the world is judging us by. If youd ever told me any time in my life that this country would sanction federal agents to take children from the arms of their parents, put them in cages, actually put them up for adoption. In colorado we call that kidnappi kidnapping. I kwof would have told you it was unbelievable and the first thing we have to do is recognize the humanitarian crisis on the border for what it is and make sure that there are the sufficient facilities in place, so that women and children not separated from their families, children are with their families. We have to make sure i. C. E. Is completely reformed and they begin looking at their job in a humanitarian way in which they are addressing the whole needs people they are engaged with along the border. We have to make sure ultimately we provide not just shelter, food, clothing, and access to medical care. Miss williams. What donald trump has done to these children. Its not just in colorado, governor, you are right, its kidnapping, it is extremely important to realize that, if you forcibly take a child from their parents arms, you are kidnapping them. If you take a lot of children and put them in a containment center, thus inflicting chronic trauma upon them, thats called child abuse. This is collective child ipousse. When this is crime, both of those things are a crime. If your government does it, that doesnt make it less of a crime. These are state sponsored crimes. Congressman. What President Trump has done is not only attack these children, not only demonize these immigrants. He is attacking a basic principle of americas moral core. We open our hearts to the stranger. This is extremely important. And its also important for all of us, remember, i have Great Respect for everyone on this stage. But we are going to talk about what to do about healthcare. Where have you been, guys . Its not just a matter of a friend. I havent heard anybody on this stage who has talked about Foreign Policy in latin america and how we might have in the last few decades contributed to would you do . One of the things with President Trump hes done to the country, hes torn apart the moral fabric of who we, are when he started separating children at the border from their parents. The facts that seven children have died in his custody. The fact that dozens of children have been separated from their parents and they have no plan to reunite them so i would do a few things. First i would fight for comprehensive Immigration Reform with a pathway to citizenship. Second, i would reform how we treat Asylum Seekers at the border. I would have a communitiesbased Treatment Center where you are doing within the communities where Asylum Seekers are given lawyers, where there is real immigration judges, not employees of the attorney general but appoinfor life and have a Community Based system. I would fund Border Security. But the worst thing President Trump has done, he seems to have averted the funds away from cross border terrorism, cross border human trafficking, Drug Trafficking and gun trafficking and hes given that money to the for profit presences, i would not be spending money in for profit prisons to lock up children and Asylum Seekers we had a very spirited conversation last night on the topic of decriminalization of the border. If you would be so kind, raise your hand if you think it would be a civil offense rather than a crime to cross the border without documentation. Could we keep the hands up so we can see them . Lets rm, thats not a their red cal exercise, the criminalization is the basis of family separation. You do away with that, its no longer possible. Of course, it wouldnt be possible anyway in my presidency, it is dead wrong. We have to talk about one other thing, the Republican Party likes to cloak itself in the language of religion. Now, our party doesnt talk about that as much, largely for a very good reason, which was we are committed to the separation of church and state. We stand for people of any religion and no religion. But we should call out hypocrisy hypocrisy, for a party that associates itself with christianity. To say its okay god would smile on the division of families at the hands of federal agents, god won condone putting children in cages has lost all claim to ever use religious language again. Mr. Vice president , i dont know if you raised your hand or were just asking to speak, would you decriminalize crossing the border without documents . The first thing i would do is unite families, id surge immediately billions of dollars of help to the region immediately. Look i talk about Foreign Policy. Im the guy that got a bipartisan agreement at the very end of the campaign at the end of our term to spend the e spend 740 million to deal with the problem. That was to go to the root cause of why people are leaving in the first place. It was working. We saw as you know a net decrease in the number of children that were coming. The crisis was abated. Along came this president. He said, he immediately discontinued that we all talk about these things. I did it. I did it. 740. Now look, second thing we have to do, the law now requires the reuniting of foes families. We would reyou into it those families, period, if not wed put them in a circumstance where they were safe until we can find their parents. Lastly, the idea that hes in court with the Justice Department saying, children in cages do not need a bed. Do not need a blanket. Do not need a toothbrush that is outrageous. The Obamabiden Administration was the Obama Biden Administration deported nearly 3 million americans. My question to you is if an individual is living in the United States of america without documents, that is his only offense, should that person be deported . No. Depending if they communicate major crime, they should be deported. The president was left, president obama i think did a heck of a job, to compare him to what this guy the doing is absolutely i find immoral. But the fact is, we should fought be locking people up. We should be making sure we change the circumstance as we did why they would leave in the first place. And those who come seeking asylum, we should immediately have the capacity to absorb them, keep them safe until they can be heard. 15 seconds if you could, if you wish to answer. Should someone who is here without documents and that is his only offense, should that person be deported . . That person should not be the focus of deportation. We should fundamentally clang the way we deal with them. Senator. I suggest. I agree a lot of what kamela just said. That is on day one we take out our executive order pen and rescind every dam thing on this issue that trumps that done. Absolutely. Number two, picking up on the point of children, we got to look at the root causes. You have a situation where honduras among other things is a failing state. Massive corruption. You got gangs who are telling families that if a 10yearold does not join that gang, the family is going to be killed. What we have got to do on day one is invite the president s and the leadership of Central America and mexico together, this is a hemispheric problem. Congressman swalwell. What do you do . Day one, no, if someone is here without documents and that is their only offense is that person to be deported . No, that person can be a part of this Great American experience. Exactly. That person can contribute. My Congressional District is one of the most diverse in america. We see the benefits when people contribute and they become a part of the community and theyre not shadow economy. Day one for me, families are reunited. The president for immigrants, there is nothing he will not do to separate a family, cage a child, or erase their existence by weaponizing the census and there is nothing that we cannot do in the courts and that i will not do as president to reverse that and to make sure that families always long together. Senator harris. Well, thank you. I will say, no, absolutely not. They should not be deported. And i actually this was one of the very few issues with which i disagreed with the administration with whom i had a great relationship with and great deal of respect. On the secure issues, i was the attorney general in california, i led the second only to the United States department of justice in a state of 40 Million People and on this issue, i disagreed with my president. Because the policy was to allow deportation of people who by isis own definition were noncriminals. So as attorney general and the chief law officer of the state of california, i issued a directive to the sheriffs of my state that they did not have to comply with detainers and instead should make decisions based on the best interest of Public Safety of their community. Because what i saw and i was tracking every day, i was tracking it and saw that parents, people who had not committed a crime even by isis own definition were deport. But i have to add a point here, the problem with this kind of policy and i know it as a prosecutor, i want a rape victim to be able to run in the middle of the street and wave down a Police Officer and report the crime against her. I want anybody who has been the victim of any real crime to be able to do that and not be afraid that if they do that they will be deported because the abuser will tell them they were credib criminal. It is wrong. It is wrong. We will turn to the issue of trade. Last night we asked the candidates to face the gait gaest geopolitical threat. They say china steals our intellectual property and both sides accuse china of manipulating their currency to keep the costs of goods artificially low. For bennett to start off with, how would you stand up to china . I think first of all the biggest spectre is russia not china. Because of what theyve done with the election. China, the president has been right to push back on china, hes done nit completely the wrong way. We should mobilize the entire rest of the world. Well all have a shared interest in pushing back on mercantile trade policies. I think we can do that. Id like to answer the other question before this as well. Do you have the time . When i see the kids at the border i see my mom because i know she sees herself. She was separated from her parents for years during the holocaust in poland. For donald trump to be doing what hes doing to children and their families at the borders, i say this as somebody who wrote the immigration bill if 20s 13 that created a pathway to citizenship for 11 Million People in this country that had the most progressive dream act thats ever been conceived much less passed. It got 68 votes in the senate. That had 46 become of Border Security in it that was sophisticated 21st century Border Security, not a midevil wall and the president has turned the border of the United States into a symbol of native hostility that the whole world is looking at when what we should be represented by is the statue of liberty, which has brought my parents to this country to begin with. We need to make a change. Mr. Yang, let me bring you in on this on the issue of china. You have expressed concerns about technology and taking jobs. Are you worried about china and, if so, how would you had stand up against it . I want to agree i think russia is our biggest geopolitical threat. They have been hacking our elections and have been laughing their bleeps off, we should think about that before other threats. China, they do its a massive problem. The tariffs and trade wars are punishing businesses producers and workers on both side. I met with a farmer in iwhat who said he built up a relationship in china thats now disappeared and gone forever. The beneficiaries have not been American Workers or people in china. Its been Southeast Asia and other producers that have then stepped into the voifd so we need to crack down on chinese malfeasance in the trade relationship and the tariffs and the trade war are the wrong way to go. Mayor bute gig. How would you had stand up against china . Yeah, i mean first of all we got to recognize the china challenge really is a serious one. Its not one to dismiss or whatever away. If you look at what china is doing, theyre using technology for the profession of dictatorship. Their fundament am economic modem isnt going to change because of some tariffs. I live in the industrial midwest. Folks who arent in the shadow of a factory are somewhere near a soy field where i live and manufacturers and especially soy farmers are hurting. Tariffs are taxes. And americans are going to pay on average le 00 more a year. Because of these tariffs. Meanwhile, china is investing so that they could soon be able to run circles around us in artificial intelligence. This president is fixated on the coin relationship as all that mattered was the export balance on dish washers. We have a much bigger issue on our hands, at the time when their authoritarian modem is held up to ours looks so chaotic because of our internal divisions the biggest thing weve got to do is invest in our own domestic competitiveness. If we disinvest in our own infrastructure, education, we are never going to be able to compete f. We really want to be a democratic alternative, with we have to demonstrate we care about Democratic Values at home and around the world. So far, were going to take a quick break, candidates. When we come back, questioning continues with our colleagues. Chuck todd, Rachel Maddow will be here, much more with our candidates straight ahead. Hoo dont let an amazing adventure pass you by. Tripadvisor makes it easy to book your tours, attractions, and experiences ahead of time. So you never miss out on cant miss adventures book things to do on tripadvisor. musica . Break down was selected thats random, candidates will have 60 seconds and 30 seconds for followups if necessary. Because of this large field of candidates, not every person will be able to react. The less audience participation they will get. We will hear from all of these candidates. We will begin this hour with mayor buttigieg. In the last five years civil rights activists in our country have led a National Debate over race and the criminal Justice System. Your community of south bend, indiana has recently been in an uproar over an officerinvolved shooting. The police force in south bend is now 6 black in a city that is 26 black. Why has that nottive proved over your two terms as mayor . Because i couldnt get it done. Our communities is in anguish over an officerinvolved shooting. A black man killed by a white officer. Im not allowed to take sides until the investigation comes back. He didnt have his body camera on. He says he was attacked be aknife. Its a mess, were hurting. I can walk you through all the things we have done as a xhucht, all of the steps from bias training to deescalation, but it didnt save the life of eric logan. And when i look into his mothers eyes, i had to face the fact that nothing that i say will bring him back. This is an issue that is facing our community and so many communities around the country. And until we move policing out from the shadow of systemic racism, whatever this particular incident teaches us, we will be left with the bigger problem, the fact that there is a wall of mistrust put up one racisting a at a time. Not just from whats happened in the past. But from whats happening around the country in the present. It threatens the wellbeing of every community i am determined to bring about a day when a white person driving a vehicle and a black person driving a vehicle, when they see a Police Officer approaching feels the exact same thing the feeling not of fear, but of safety. I am determined to bring that day about. Thank you. Mayor buttigieg, if i can ask one question because i think. Governor, ill give you 30 seconds. I think the question theyre asking if south bend, i think its across the country is why has it taken so long . We had a shooting when i first became mayor ten years before ferguson and the Community Came together. We created an office of independent monitor, a civilian oversight commission. We diversified the police force in two years and actually did deescalation training. I think the real question america should be asking is why five years after ferguson every city doesnt have this level of Police Accountability. I got to the respond to that. Look, weve taken so many steps towards Police Accountability that the fop just denounced me for too much accountability. Were obviously not there yet. I accept responsibility for that because im in charge. Then you should fire the chief. So under indiana law, this will be investigated and there will be accountably for the officer involved. Are you the mayor, you should fire the chief if thats the policy and someone died. All of these issues are extremely important. There are symptoms. The underlying cause has to deal with deep realms of Racial Injustice in our criminal Justice System and the Democratic Party should be on the side of reparation fosser slavery for this very reason. Do i not believe the average manner p american is a racist. But the average american is woefully under educated about the history of race in the United States. Vice president biden, we will get to you. I would like to speak on the issue of race. Senior harris. And so what i will say. We will give you 30 second we will come back to you on this again in just a moment. Go for 30 seconds. Okay. On the issue of race, i couldnt agree more that this is an issue that is still fought being talked about truthfully and honestly. There is not a black man i know be he a relative a friend or a coworker who has not been the subject of some form of profiling discrim make the. Growing up, my sister and i had to deal with the neighbor who told us her parents couldnt play with us because we were black. I will say also that in this campaign, we have also heard and im going to now direct this at Vice President biden, i do not believe you are a racist. And i agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground, but i also believe and it is personal and it was actually very hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputation and career on the segregation of race in this country and it was not only that but you also worked with them to oppose bussing. And you know there was a little girl in california who was a part of the second class to integrate her Public Schools an she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me. So i will tell you that on this subject it cannot be an intellectual debate among democrats. We have to take it seriously. We have to act swiftly. As attorney general of california, i was very proud to put in place a requirement that all my special agents wear body cameras and keep those cameras on. Senator horizon, thank you. Vice president biden. You we are giving you a chance to respond. Vice president biden. A mischaracterization of my position across the board. Ied the fought praise racists. That is not true. Number one. Number two, if we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether i did or not, im happy to do that i was a public defender. I didnt become a prosecutor. I came out and left a Good Law Firm to become a public defender when, in fact, when, in fact, when, in fact, my city was in flames because of the fascination of dr. King. Number one, number two, as excuse me as the Vice President of the United States i worked with a man who, knack, we worked very hard to see it to, we dealt with these issues. And in a major, major way. The fact is that in terms of busing. The bussing i never you would have been able to go to school the same exact way because it was a local decision made by your city council. Thats fine. Thats one of the things i argued for that we should not be we should be breaking down these lines. So the bottom line here is, look, everything i have done in my career, i ran because of civil rights. I continue to think we have to make fundamental am changes in civil rights and those civil rights, by the way, include not just ancken americans but the lbgtq communities. But Vice President biden, do you agree today, do you agree today that you were wrong to a pose bussing in america then . Do you agree . I did not oppose bussing in america. What i opposed is bussing ordered by the department of education. Thats what i opposed. Its a failure of states to integrate Public Schools in america, i was a part of the second class to integrate berkeley, california, Public Schools almost two decades after brown v. Board of education. Because your city council made that decision. It was a local decision. The federal government must step in, and the federal rights act. Thats why we need to pack the equalitying a, we need to pack the era. Because there are moments in history where states fail to preserve the civil rights of all people. I have supported the era from the very beginning when i ran 30 seconds. I supported the era from the very beginning. Im the buy the that extended the Voting Rights act for 25 years. We got to the place where we got 98 out of 98 votes in the United States senate doing it. I have also argued very strongly that we, in fact, deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box. I agree eta everybody wants, anyway, my time is up, im sorry. Thank you, Vice President. All of these things e this i think so have to do. Senator sanders, im going to youen this, you said on the day you launched your campaign that voters should vote on what people stand for, not a candidates race, age or sexual orient ache. Many democrats are very excited by the diversity of this field on this stage and on last nights stage and the perspective that diversity brings to this contest and to these issues. Are you telling democratic voters that diversity shouldnt matter when they make this decision . No absolutely not. Unlike the Republican Party, we encourage the diversity. We believe in diversity. Thats what america is about. But in addition to diversity in terms of having more women, more people from the lbgt community, we also have to do Something Else. And that is we have to ask ours a simple question, and that how come today, the worker in the middle of our economy is making no more money than he or she made 45 years ago and that in the last 30 years the top 1 has seen a 21 trillion dollar increase in their wealth . We need a party that is diverse. We need a party that has the guts to stand up to the powerful special interests who have so much power over the economic and political life of this country. Senator gillibrand, i want to give you 30 seconds on this. First of all where bernie left off, we heard a lot of good ideas on this stage tonight and a lot of plans. The truth is until you go to the root of the corruption, the money in politics, the fact that washington is run by the special interests. You are never going to solve any of these probabilities i have this most comprehensive approach that experts agree is the most trons formative plan to take on political corruption to get money out of politics to publicly funded elections. To have clean elections. If we do that and get money out of politics, we can guarantee healthcare is a right, not a privilege. We can take on income and equality and the corporate corruption that corrupts washington. It was introduced by me when i was a young store. We want to shift topics here. Senator bennett. On the issue of partisan gridlock, president obama promise affidavit his election, fever would break. That did not happen. Now Vice President biden is saying the same thing, if he is elected in 2020, both parties want to work toke. Should voters believe somehow if there is a democratic president in 2021, that gridlock is going to magically disappear . Gridlock will not magically disappear as long as Mitch Mcconnell is there, first. Second, second, second, thats why it is so important for us to win not just the presidency, to have somebody that can run in all 50 states. But to win the senate as well. And thats why we have to propose policys that can be supported like medicare act so that we can build a Broad Coalition of americans to overcome broken washington, d. C. I agree with what senator gillibrand was saying, i share a lot of her views. We need to end gerrymandering in washington. We need to ends political gerrymandering in walk. The court today said they couldnt do anything about it. We need to overturn Citizens United. The court was the one that gave us Citizens United and the attack on Voting Rights in shelby versus holder is something we need to deal with. All of those things has happened since Vice President biden was in the senate and we face structural problems that we have to overcome with a Broad Coalition. Its the only way we can do it. We need to root out the corruption in walk. Expand peoples rights to get to the polls. I think then we can succeed. Vice president biden, 30 seconds, what, it does sound as if you havent seen whats been happening in the United States senate over the last 12 years. It didnt happen, why . I have seen what happened. Just since we were Vice President. We needed three votes to pass an 800 billion recoverying a that kept us from going into depression. I got three votes changed. We needed to be able to keep the government from shutting down and going bankrupt. I got Mitch Mcconnell to raise taxes 600 billion by raising the top rate. And let us recently ask, after president got elected. I was able to put together a coalition and a cures act that billions of dollars go into cancer research. Bipartisan, but sometimes you cant do that, sometimes you have to go out and beat them. I wempbt into 20 states, over 60 candidates and guess what . We beat them. We won back the senate. Thank you. Chuck, the problem with what the Vice President. 30 second. Go ahead. Sometimes you do have to beat them. But the deal that he talked about with Mitch Mcconnell was a complete victory for the tea party. It extended the bush tax cuts permanently. The Democratic Party has been running against that for ten years. We have lost that economic argument because that deal extended almost all those bush tax cuts permanently and put in place the mindless cuts that we still are dealing with today that are called to sequester. That was a great deal for Mitch Mcconnell. It was a terrible deal for america. Thank you, senator bennett. The reason why the trump tax cut had to be passed is because they had to pay back their donors. You heard it. They actually said those words. So the corruption in washington is real and it is something that makes every one of the plans weve heard about over the last several months impossible. I have the most comprehensive approach to do it with clean elections, public lip funded elections, so we restore the power of our democracy into the hands of the voters, not into the Koch Brothers. We were talking about issues. Imagine, were in florida, imagine the parkland kids having as much power in our democracy as the Koch Brothers or the nra. Imagine their voices carry farther and wider than anyone else because their voice is needed. Senator gillibrand. Its the first thing i am going to do, nothing else is possible than education or healthcare or ending institutions. Senator sanders, id like to put a different question to you. Roe versus wade has been the law of the land since 1973. Now that there is a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, several republican controlled states have passed laws to severely restrict or ban abortion. One of those laws could very well make it to the Supreme Court during your presidency if you are elected president. What is your if roe is struck down in the courts while are you president . Well, my plan as somebody who believes for a start that a womans right to control her own body is a constitutional right that government and politicians should not infringe on that right. We will do everything we can to defend our roe versus wade. Second of all, let me make, let me make a promise here. You ask about litmus test. My litmus test is i will never appoint any nominate any justice to the Supreme Court unless that justice is 100 clear he or she will defend roe v. Wade. First of all, i do not believe in packing the court. We got a terrible majority, conservative court right now. But i do believe that constitutionally we have the power to rotate judges to other courts. And that brings in new blood into the Supreme Court and a majority i hope that will understand that a woman has the right to control her own body and the corporations cannot run the occupation of america. I will give you ten additional questions the question is, what if the court has already overturned roe and roe is gone, all of the things you just described would be to try to preserve roe. If roe is gone, what could you do as president to preserve abortion rights . First of all, it didnt come up here, lets face this med compare for all guarantees every woman in this country the right to have an abortion if she wants it. Thank you, senator. Can i just address this for a second, i want to talk directly, directly, to americas women and to men who love them. Womens reproductive rights are under assault by President Trump and the Republican Party. 30 states are trying to overturn roe v. Wade right now and it is mindboggling to me that we are debating this on this stage in 2019 among democrats whether women should have access to reproductive riemts. I think we have to stop playing defense and Start Playing offense. Let me tell you one thing about politics. It goes to the corruption and deal making. When the door is closed negotiations are made. There are conversations about womens rights and compromises have been made on our bags. Thats how we got to hyde. The Hyde Amendment was made by compromise of leaders o both parties. Then we have the aca, during the aca negotiation i had to fight like heck with other women to make sure that contraception wasnt sold down the river or abortion service. And so what we need to know is imagine this one question, when we beat President Trump and Mitch Mcconnell walks into the oval office, god more bid, to go negotiations, who do you want when that door closes to be sitting behind that desk to fight for womens radio its . I have been the fiercest advocate for womens reproductive freedom for over a decade. I promise you as president when that door closes i will guarantee womens rights no matter what. Thank you. Were moving to climate. Guys. Senator harris, addressing you first on this. You live in a state that has been hit by drought. Wildfires, flooding, Climate Change is a major concern in your state. Its pretty obvious, this state as well. Last night voters heard many of the candidates weigh in on their proposals. Explain specifically what yours is. Well, first of all i dont call Climate Change, its a climate crisis. It presents an existential threat to us as a species. The fact we have a president of the United States who embraced Science Fiction of science fact will be to our collective per im. Ive visited, while the embers were smoldering the wildfires in california. I spoke with firefighters who were in the midst of fighting a fire while their own homes were burning. And on this issue, it is a critical issue that is about what we must do to confront what is immediate and before us right now. That is why i support a green new deem. It is why i believe on day one and as president will reenter us into the paris agreement. Because we have to take these issues seriously. Frankly, we have a president of the United States. You talked about. You asked before, what is the greatest National Security threat to the United States . Its donald trump. Im going to tell you. And im going to tell you why. Because i agree, Climate Change represents an existential threat. He denies the science. You want to talk about north korea, real threat in terms of nuclear ars nam. What does he do . He embraces kim jongun, a dictator for the stake of a photo op. Putin. You want to talk about russia . He takes the word of the russia president over the word of the American Intelligence Community when it comes to a threat oour democracy and our election there thank you, senior harris. These are the issues before us, chuck. I hear you. Thank you, senior harris. Mayor bute gig. In your climate plan, if are you elected president in your first term, how is this going to help farmers impacted by Climate Change in the midwest . Well, the reality is, we need to begin adapting right away. We also cant skip a beat on protecting Climate Change from getting worse. Thats why we need aggressive and ambitious endeavors. We need a carbon tax dividend. I would propose a way to do it as it is rebated out in a progressive fashion so most americans are made more than hole. This isnt theoretical for us. Parts of california on fire, theyre talking about sea level rise. In indiana, i had to activate the Emergency Center twice in less than two years, the first time was a thousand year flood. The next time was a 3500 year flood. This is not just happening on the arctic ice caps. This is happening in the middle of the country. Weve got to be dramatically more aggressive moving forward. Heres what very few people talk about. First of all, Rural America can be a part of the solution instead of being theyre a part of the prosch. With the right kind of soil manage. And investments, Rural America can be a huge part of how we get this done. Secondly, we have to look to the communities, there are networks from cities around the world who have come together not waiting for our National Governments to camp up. We should have a pittsburgh summit where we bring them together as well as joining the perris summit. I want to bring if governor hickenlooper into this for a moment. You said oil and Gas Companies should be a part of the solution on Climate Change. Lots of your colleagues on stage have talked about moving away from fossil fuels entirely. Can oil and Gas Companies be Real Partners in this fight . Well, i share the sense of urgency. Im a scientist. So i recognize in ten or 12 years of actually suffering irreversible damage. But, you know, guaranteeing everybody a government job is not going to get us there. So socialism in that sense is not the solution. We have to look at what really will make a difference n. Colorado, im proposing a couple coal plants, replacing them with window, solar, batteries. The monthly bills go down. Were building a network for electric vehicles. We are working with the oil and gas industry and weve created the first methane regulations in the country. Methane is 25 times worse than co2. We got to get to that last part. The industrial heavy industry. We havent seen the plans yet. If you look at the real problem. Co2 the worst polluters is china, the United States and concrete and beyond that, i think weve got to recognize that only by bringing people toe, businesses, nonprofits in, we cant demonize business, we have to bring them toke. Ultimately, if were not able to do that, we will be doomed failure. We have no way of doing this without bringing everyone together. Vice president biden. On the issue of how do you this democrats from arguing robustly among themselves about whats the best way to tackle Climate Change . But if were honest, many republicans, including the president , are not sure if they believe it is a serious problem so are there significant ways you can cut Carbon Emissions if you have to do it with no support from congress . The answer is yes. Number one, our administration, we built the largest wind farm in the world. The Largest Solar Energy facility in the world. Weve drove down the Competitive Price of both of those renewable sources. I would immediately insist that we, in fact, build 500,000 recharging stations throughout the United States of america governors, mayors, others, so we can go to a full electric future by the year 2020, by the year 2030. I would make sure weve invested 400 million in new science and technology to be the exporter, not only of the Green Economy but economy that can create millions of jobs. What i would immediately join the paris climate accord. I would up theante in that accord which it calls for, because we make up 15 of the problem. 85 of the world makes up the rest. So we have to have someone that knows how to corral the rest of the world, bring them together and get something done like we did in our administration. Senior sanders, i want to give you 30 seconds to follow up. I will hold to you 30. The old ways are no longer relevant. The scientists tell us we have 12 years before there is irreparable damage to this planet. This is a global issue. What the president of the United States should do is not deny the reality of Climate Change but tell the rest of the world that instead of spending a trillionandahalf dollars on weapons of destruction, let us get together for the common enemy and that is the to transform the World Energy System away from fossil fuel, to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energy. The future of the planet rests on us doing this. Before we gork hang on. Before we leave this topic. Heres the solution, pass the torch. Pass the torch to the generation that will feel the effects of Climate Change. Thats enough. Thank you both. Before we leave this topic. Heres something you all want to weigh in on. Hold one moment. Trust us on this. Just because you have a younger body doesnt mean have you old ideas. John kennedy did not say, i have a plan to get a plan to the moon and so were going to do it. I this i we can all Work Together and maybe we can get a man on the moon. John kennedy said, by the end of this decade, we are going to put a man on the moon, because john kennedy was back in the day when politics included the people, included imagination, included great dreams and included great plans and i had a career not making the political plans, but i have had a career harnessing the inspiration and the motivation and the excitement of people there thank you police williamson. When we know we say we are going to turn from a dirty economy to a clean economy, were going to have a green if you deem, were going to create millions of jobs, were going to do this within the next 12 years ago because im not interested in just winning the next election. We are investing in our grandchildren, then it will happen. We will sneak in a break in a minute. Before we go, i will go down the liner, im asking you please for one or two words only. Please. Really. President obama in his first year wanted to address both healthcare and climate and he could only get one signature issue accomplished. It was, obviously, healthcare. He didnt get to do Climate Change. You may only get one shot in your first issue you are going to push, you get one shot it may be the only thing you get passed. What is that first issue. Eric swalwell, you are first. For parkland, for orlando, every community affected by gun violence, ending gun violence. Senator bennett. Climate change and the lack of economic mobility bernie talks about. Senator gillibrand. Passing a family bill of rights that includes a National Paid leave plan, universal pre k, affordable day care and making sure that women and families are thrive in the workplace no matter who they are. I like that. I had it. So passing a middle class working families tax cut. Daca, guns. Okay. Ill give you credit for the first ipg you this said, the tax cut. Senator sanders, the first thing. The premis that there is one or two issues out there. Im not saying there is one or two. This is an enormous crisis. We need a political revolution. People have to stand up and take on the special interests. Question transform this country. Vice president biden, your first issue, mr. Vice president. I think you are so underestimating what barack obama did. Hes the first man to bring together the entire world, 196 nations to commit to deal with Climate Change. Immediately. I dont buy that. But the first thing i would do is make sure that we defeat donald trump period. Mayor bute gig, your first priority, your first issue as president that you are going to block and tackle . We got to fix our democracy before its too late. Get that right, climate immigration, taxes and every other issue gets done. Mr. Yang. I would pass a 1,000 freedom dividend for every adult at age 18, which would speed up on Climate Change, if you get the boot off peoples throats, theyre focus on Climate Change much more clearly. Governor hickenlooper. I would do a Climate Change and pronounce it well before the election so we dont reelect the worst president in american history. My first call is to Prime Minister of new zealand who said her goal is to make new zealand the best place in the world for a child to grow up. I would tell a girlfriend, are you so on, because the United States of america is going to be the best place in the world for a child to grow up. We are going to have you guys were close, at least it was shorter responses. Not at all. Not at all. All right. C minus. Were going to take a quick break. Well be right back with these candidates right after this. Were reporters from the new york times. No flights. No roads. Were trying to figure out what animals are being affected. Galapagos is a really challenging place to work. El nino is starting to go haywire. Everywhere is going to get touched by Climate Change. The latest Charter School scandals are piling up. Leaders of one san Diego Charter network . Indicted for conspiracy and grand theft. Thankfully, the governors Charter School policy task force just made important recommendations for reform more accountability on Charter School spending. And giving local School Districts more control over the authorization of Charter Schools. Reforms we need to pass now. So call your state senator. Ask them to support ab 1505 and ab 1507. Welcome back to the Democratic Candidates debate in miami. Were going to continue the questioning now with lester in the audience. We are . We are a second going to have a question from lester in the audience. But that was just a fakeout. Thats good. Were going to the issue of guns. And congressman swalwell. Among this field of candidates, you have a unique position on gun reform. Are you proposing the fost should buy back every assault weapon in america and it should be mandatory. How do you envision that working especially in states where gun rights are a strong flash point . Keep your pistols, keep your rifles, your shotguns, we can take the most dangerous weapons from the most dangerous people. We have nra on the ropes, because of moms, giffords, march for our lives. Im the only candidate on the stage calling for a ban and buyback of every assault weapon in america. I seen the plans of other candidates here. They would leave 15 assault weapons in our communities. They wouldnt do a single thing to save a single life in parkland. Ill approach it as a prosecutor, as the only person on this stage that voted and passed background checks. But also as a parent of a generation who send our children to school where we look at what theyre wearing, so we can remember it in case we have to identify them later. A generation who has seen thousands of black children killed in our streets and a generation who goes to the theater, and we actually look where the fire exits are. We dont have to live this way. We must be a country who loves our children more than we love our guns. Senator sanders. A vermont newspaper recently released portions of an interview you gave in 2013, in which you said, quote, my own view on guns is, everything being equal, states should make those decisions. No. Has your thinking changed thins then . Do you now think there is a its a mischaracterization. Its a quote of yours . We have a gun crisis right now. 40,000 people a year are getting killed. In 1988, rachel, when it wasnt popular, i ran on a platform of banning assault weapons and in fact lost that race for congress. I had a d minus voting record from the nra. And i believe what we need is comprehensive Gun Legislation that among other things provides universal background. We end the gun show loophole. We end the straw man provision. And i believed it 1988. Abelieve today. Assault weapons, assault weapons are weapons of the military and that they should not be hon the streets of many earthquake. Your plan leaves them on streets. You leave 15 million on the streets. We ban the sale and distribution and thats what i believed tore many years. Will you buy them back . If the government wants to do that. Youre going to be the government. Will you buy them pack . Yeah. Senior harris. I think your idea is a great one congressman swalwell. Congress has nod had the courage to act. Which is when i am elected president of the United States, i will give the United States congress 100 days to pull their act together, bring all these good ideas together and put a bill on my desk for signature, if they do not, i will take executive action and put in place the most comprehensive background check policy weve havard. I will require the atf to take the will bes of gun dealers who violate the law and i will ban by executive order the impo importation of assault weapons. Im going to till, as a prosecutor, i have seen more autopsy photographs than i care to tell you. I have hugged more mothers, the mothers of homicide victims and i have attended more Police Officer funerals. It is enough. It is enough. There have been plenty of food ideas for members of the United States congress. There has been no action. As president i will take action. Mayor buttigieg. I want to bring new on this sir. A lot of discussions about rifles shorthanded as military style weapons. Are you the only person on this stage with military experience as a veteran of the afghanistan war. Will military families, the u. S. That inform your thinking othon this view, do you think military families at large will have a different take on this than the other americans we have been talking about who congressman swalwell is appealing to with his Buyback Program . Of course. We trained on these weapons. Every part of my experience informs. This. Being a mayor of a city where the worst part is dealing with violence. We lose as many as we are lost at parkland every two or three years in my city alone. And this is tearing communities apart. If more guns made us safer, wed be the safest country on earth. It doesnt work that way. And common sense measures, like universal backgrounds checks cant seem to get delivered by washington. Even when most republicans, let alone most americans agree its the right thing to do. As somebody who trained on weapons of war, i can tell you that there are weapons that have absolutely no place in American Cities or neighborhoods in peace time. Ever. Vice president biden, 30 seconds. A real 30 seconds . A real 30 seconds. Im the only person that beat the nra nationally. Im the guy that fought the brady bill passed, background checks, number one. Number two, we increaseed that background check during the Obamabiden Administration. Im also the only guy that got assault weapons banned, banned, and the number of clips in a gun banned. So, folks, look, i would buy back those weapons. We already started talking about that we tried to get it done. I this i it can be done and it should be demanded that we do it and thats a good expenditure money. Lastly with show you would have smart gun itself. No gun should be able to be sold unless your biometric measure can pull that trigger. Its within our right to to that we can do that. Our enemy is the gun manufacturers, not the nra. The gun manufacturer. But the nra is taking orderers from the gun manufacturer. Lester holt. All right, chuck, this is a question from our viewers. We put some suggestions they asked me to share son. Heres one from kat line from oregon. Who writes many fear the Current Administration has inflicted erevokable harm on our governing institutions and norms and the process on our reputation abroad. The question is, what do you see as important early steps if reversing the damage done and well put this to senator bennett. Thank you very much. What an excellent question. First of all, we have to restore our democracy at home. The rest of the world is looking for us as leadership. We have a president that doesnt believe in the rule of law, he doesnt believe in the freedom of the press. He believes in corruption hes brought to washington, d. C. That is what we have to change. Thats why everybody is up here tonight and i appreciate the fact that theyre up here for that reason. Second, weve got to, weve got to restore the relationships that hes destroyed with our allies. Not just in europe, he flew to the g20 last night and attacked japan, germany and a third ally of ours without saying anything about north korea or russia. And when you got a situation where you have a president that says something happened in the states straights of hor mus and the strait of hormuz and thats a huge problem when it comes to the United States of america. Thank you, senator. A perfect time to do another down the line. This is what this question s. You have to likely have to reset a relationship between america and another country vp country or entity if you become president perhaps because of some relationship that you just mentioned about President Trump. What is the first relationship you like to reset as president , go down the line . Ill start with miss williamson. Well, one of my first phone calls will be to call the european leaders and say were back. I understand how important it is the United States be a part of the western alliance. Im trying to get one or two lines. Governor hickenlooper. I talk about constant engage p, the first country i understand they have been stealing intellectual property is china. You will deal with public health. Thank you. You deal with all the challenges of the globe, you got to have relationships with everyone. Mr. Yang, were trying to squeeze in a couple more things before break. China, we need to cooperate on Climate Change other issues north korea. Thanks for if quickness, player buttigieg. We have no idea which aloose he will have [ bleep ] off between now and then. We know the entire world starts to change. It starts with modeling American Values thats home. Mr. Vice president. We want to to be quick. We know nato will fall apart, its the single most important ialliance in the history of the United Nations. Its not one country. I think its rebuilding trust in the United Nations and understand that we can solve conflicts without war but with diplomacy. Senior harris. All the members of the nato alliance. Senator gym brand. President trump is hell bent on starting a war with iran. My first act will be to engage iran to stabilize the middle east and make sure we do not start an unwanted never ending war. Senator bennett, quickly. Our european allies and every latin America Country ready to have a conversation about dealing with a refugee crisis. My firsting a, breaking up with russia and makening up with nato. Thank you all. Last question for mr. President biden tonight. You have made your decades of experience if Foreign Policy a pillar of your campaign. But when the time came to say yes or no or one of the most consequential Foreign Policy decisions of the last century, you voted for the iraq war. You since said you regret that vote. Why should voters trust your judgment when it comes to making a decision about taking the country to war the next time . Because once bush abuseed that power, what happened was we got elected after that i made sure the president turned to me and said, joe, get our combat troops out of iraq. I was responsible for getting 150,000 combat troops out of iraq and my son was one of them. I also think we should not have combat troops in afghanistan. Its long overdue. It should end. Thirdly, i believe that you are not going to find anybody who has pulled together more of our alliances to deal with what is the real stateless threat out there. We cannot go it alone in terms of dealing with terrorism. So id eliminate the act that allowed us to go into war and not the amf and make sure that it can only be used for what its intent was. That is to go after terrorists. But never do it alone. Thats why you have to repair our alliance. We put together 65 countries to make sure we dealt with isis in iraq and other placeles. Thats what i would do. Thats what i have done. And i know how to do it. Senator sanders, 30 seconds. One of the differences that joe and i have in our record is joe voted for that war, i helped lead the open six to that war, which is a total disaster. Second of all, i helped lead the effort for the first time to utilize the war powers act to get the United States out of the saudiled intervention in yemen, which is the most horrific humanitarian disaster on earth and, thirdly, let me be very clear, i will do everything i can to prevent a war with iran, which will be far worse than disastrous war with iraq. Senator sanders. All right, guys. We got good news is you get more time to talk, but i have to sneak in one more break. Well be rig well be rig ht the latest Charter School scandals are piling up. Leaders of one san Diego Charter network . Indicted for conspiracy and grand theft. Thankfully, the governors Charter School policy task force just made important recommendations for reform more accountability on Charter School spending. And giving local School Districts more control over the authorization of Charter Schools. Reforms we need to pass now. So call your state senator. Ask them to support ab 1505 and ab 1507. We are back if miami. Now each candidate will have a final chance to make their case to the voters. 45 second each. We begin with congressman swalwell. We cant be a forward looking party if we look to the past for our leadership. Im a congressman but also a father of a 2yearold an infant. When im not changing diapers, im changing washington. Most of the time, the diapers smell better. I went to congress at 31. I found a washington that doesnt work for people like you and me. Its made of the rich and the disconnected. I was the first in my family to go to college and have Student Loan Debt. I have the effort to elect the next members of congress. We have a moment to seize. This is a cando generation. This is the generation that will end climate chaos. This is the generation that will solve Student Loan Debt. This is the generation that will say enough is enough and end gun violence. This generation demand bold solutions. Thats why im running for president. Congressman, thank you. Im sorry we havent talked more tonight about how 23 will beat donald trump. I have an idea about donald trump. Donald trump is not going to be beaten just by insider politics talk. Hes not going to be beaten by somebody who has plans, hes going to be beaten by somebody who has an idea of what this man has done this man has reached into the psyche of the American People and harnessed fear, so, mr. President , if you are listening. You have harnessed fear and only love can cast that out. So i sir, i have a feeling you know what you are doing. I am going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field and sir, love will win. Thank you. Senator bennett. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My mom and her parents came to the United States to rebuild their shattered lives. In the only country that they could. 300 years before that my parents family came, searching religious freedom here. Theable for one generation to do better than the next is now severely at risk in the occupation, especially among children living in poverty like the ones i used to work for in the denver Public Schools. That itself why im running for president. Ive had two tough races in colorado. By bringing people together, not by making empty promises. And i believe we need to build a Broad Coalition of americans to beat donald trump and end the corruption in washington and build a new era of the american democracy and american opportunity. This is going to be hard to do. But its what our parents would have expected. Its what our kid deserve. I hope you will join me in this effort. Thank you. Governor hickenlooper. Im a Small Business owner who brought that same scrappy spirit in colorado to one of the most progressive states in america. Weve expanded teenage abortion by 64 . We were the first state to legalize marijuana, we transported ourious tis system in the process. We passed universal background systems, we attacked Climate Change with the toughest methane regulations in the country and for the last three years, we have been the number 1 economy in america. You dont need Big Government to do big thing. I know that because im the one person up here whose actually done the big progressive things everyone else is talking about. If we turn toward socialism, we run the risk of helping to reelect the worst president if american history. Thank you, governor. Senator gillibrand, have you the floor for 45 second. Women in america, women in america are on fire. Weve marched, weve organized. Weve run for office and we won. But our rights are under attack like never before by President Trump and the republicans who want to repeal roe v wade, which is why i went to the front lines in georgia to fight tore them. As president , i will take on the fights that no one elsewhere. I stood up to the pentagon and repealed dont ask dont tell. I stood up to the banks and voted against the bailout twice. I stood up to trump more than any other senator in the u. S. Senate. I have the most comprehensive approach for getting money out of politics with publicly funded elections to deal with political corruption. Now is not the time to play it safe. Now is not the time to be afraid of firsts. We feed a president who will take on the big challenges even if she stand alone, join me in fighting for this. Senator gillibrand, thank you. Mr. Yang, you have 45 second for your closing. I am proof our democracy still works. Democrats and americans around the country, you have one question for the nominee that is who can beat donald trump in 2020 . That is the right question. And the right candidate to beat donald trump will be solving the problems that got donald trump elected and will have a vision of a trickle up economy that is already drawing thousands of disaffected trump voters, conservatives, libertarians as well as progressives and i am that candidate. I can build a much broader coalition to beat donald trump. It is not left, it is not right. It is forward. That is where ill take the country in 2020. Mr. Yang, thank you. Senator harris. The floor is yours. Thank you, well, i just want to leave you with a couple of things. One, we need a nominee who has the ability to prosecute the case against four more years of donald trump and i will do that. Second, this election is about you. This is about your hopes and your dreams and your fears and what wakes you up at 3 00 in the morning. Thats why i have what i call a 3 00 a. M. Agenda, that is about everything from what we feed to do to deliver healthcare to how you will be able to pay the bills by the end of the month. And when i think about what our country need, i promise you, i will be a president who leads with a sense of dignity, with honesty, speaking the truth and giving the American Family all that they need to get through the end of the month in a way that allows them to prosper. So i pope e hope to earn your support. Please join us at kamela rris. O. Mire buttigieg. 45 seconds. Nothing about politics is theoretical for me. Ive had the experience of writing a letter to my family and putting it in an envelope marked just if case and leaving it where they would know where to find it in case i didnt come back from afghanistan. I have the experience of being in a marriage xa exists by a single vote on the u. S. Supreme court. I have the experience of guideing a community where the per capita income was below 20,000 when i took office into a brighter future. Im running because the decisions we make in the next three or four years will last over the next 20 years, when i look back on these years and say my generation delivered climate solutions, racial equality and an end to endless war. Help me deliver that new generation to washington before its too late. Thank you. Senator sanders, 45 seconds, the floor is yours. I suspect people all over the countries are watching this debate are saying these are good people. That i have great ideas. But how come nothing really changes . How come for the last 45 years wages have been stagnant for the middle class . How come we have the highest rate of childhood poverty. How come 45 Million People have student debt. How come 3 million own the bottom half of america. Here is the answer. Nothing will change unless we have the guts to take on wall street, the insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the military, Industrial Complex and the fossil fuel industry. If we dont have the guts to take them on, well continue to have plans, well continue to have talk and the rich will get richer and everybody else will be struggling. Senator. And lastly, well hear from Vice President biden. Sir, you have 45 seconds. Thank you very much. Im ready to leave this country because i think its important to restore the soul of this nation. This president has ripped it out. Hes the only president in our history who has equated racist and white supremacist with ordinary and decent people. Hes the only president who is that engaged and embraced dictators and thumbed her nose at our allies. Secondly, im running for president , i think we have to restore the backbone of america. The poor and hard working middle class people. You cant do that without replacing them with the dignity they had. Once we have to unite the United States of america. If we do, there is not a single thing the American People cant do. This is the United States of america. We can do anything if were together, together, so god bless you all and may god protect our troops. We want to thank our candidates. Weve had two nights of serious debate on a range of issue. 20 candidates in all. It takes guts to run and stick your neck out like this, to you guys and to the ten last night for having the guts to do it. Id like to thank the audience for completely ignoring our suggestions. Also, our thanks to the Democratic National committee and the florida Democratic Party. And, of course, thank you to everyone at the adrian arts center for hosting us here. Terrific. For savannah, jose, chuck and rachel, im lester holt, good night, everyone, from miami. Hi, its chris hardwick. This is the wall. [screaming] drop em the wall can give big. Thats insane but make a mistake, and the wall takes away. [groans] were gonna give real people an opportunity to live out their dream. It has all come down to this moment. Welcome to the wall on nbc. [dramatic music] please welcome in front of the wall, delvar and bonnie. Delvar, whats happening . Whoo nice to see you. Nice to meet you. Welcome. How you doing