People. applause . 2020 is our time to change who makes the rules. One stage. This election is just too important, and we cannot afford to get it wrong. Theres no limit to what we can get done in the next four years. Show up in november of 2020 and win. applause seven democratic concerneds. Together we have built a movement. We have a fantastically diverse diverse and wonderful party. We choose hope over fear. We are going to unite together. And together we are going to get it done. We will deliver a democracy worthy of the name. Ro we are here, and we are strong. applause live from the Gaillard Center in charleston, South Carolina, this is the cbs news democratic debate. Here are the seven candidates for the president ial nomination. applause cheers cheers good evening, and welcome to the democratic president ial primary here in South Carolina, the first primary in the south is just four days away. And super tuesday is just a week away, and this is the biggest primary day of the year as voters in 14 states cast ballots, and many of them tell us they have not actually made up their mind. So this debate, when you think about it tonight, may be the last, best chance for the candidates to make their case to South Carolina and super tuesday voters. O and cbs news is proud to bring you this debate, along with our cosponsors. They are the Democratic National committee and the Congressional Black Caucus institute, a Nonpartisan Organization committed to educating voters and training political leaders. And we are partnering tonight also with twitter. So you at home can participate in this debate. How do you do that . Send us your questions for the candidates using the twitter hashtag demdebate. Now, here are the rules for the next two hours. When you are asked a question, you will have one minute and 15 seconds to answer and 45 seconds for followups. So lets begin. Senator sanders, we havent had a National Unemployment rate this low for this long in 50 years. Here in South Carolina, the r. Employment rate is even lower. How will you convince voters that a democratic socialist can do better than President Trump with with the economy . Well, youre right. The economy is doing really great for people like mr. Bloomberg and other billionaires. In the last three years, last three years, billionaires in this country saw an 850 billion dollar increase in their wealth. T . T you know what . For for the ordinary american, things are not so good. Last year, real wage increases for the average worker were less than 1 . Half of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. 87 million americans have no Health Insurance or are underinsured. 45 Million People are struggling with suant debt. 500,000 people tonight are sleeping out on the street, including 30,000 veterans. That is not an economy thats working for the American People. Thats an economy working for the 1 . Were going to create an economy for all, not just wealthy campaign contributors. Senator, senator g. Mayor bloomberg. applause mayor bloomberg, ill let you respond to that. Do you think senator sanders economy would be better for america than President Trumps . I think donald trump thinks presided be better if hes president. I do not think so. Vladimir pu donald trump should be president of the United States, and thats why russia is helping you get elected. Oh, mr. Bloomberg. applause let me tell mr. Putin, okay, im not a good friend of president ziof china. I think president xi is an authoritarian leader, and let me tell mr. Putin who interfered in the 2016 election. Try to bring americans against americans. Hey, mr. Putin, if im president of the United States, trust me, youre not going to interfere in any more american elections. Senator warren. We know what russia wants. Its chaos. So, look, the way i see this is that bernie is winning right now because the Democratic Party nd a progressive party, and progressive ideas are popular tdeas, even if there are a lot of people on this stage who dont want to say so. Un, but, bernie and i agree on a lot of things. But i think i would make a better president than bernie. And the reason for that is that getting a Progressive Agenda enacted is going to be really hard, and its going to take someone who digs into the details to make it happen. Bernie and i both wanted to help reign in wall street. In 2008, we both got our chance. N. T i dug in. S. Fought the big banks. I built the coalitions, and i won. Bernie and i both want to see universal health care. But bernies plan doesnt explain how to get there, doesnt show how were going to get enough allies into it. And doesnt show enough about how were going to pay for it. I dug in. I did the work. And then bernies team trashed me for it. We need a president who is going to dig in, do the hard work, and actually get it done. Progressives have got one shot, and we need to spend it with a leader who will get something done. Mayor buttigieg, we want to bring you into this conversation. Why would the russians want to be working on behalf of Bernie Sanders. Ill tell you what the russians want. They dont have a political party. They want chaos. And chaos is what is coming our way. I mean, look, if you think the last four years has been chaotic, divisive, toxic, exhausting, imagine spending the better part of 2020 with Bernie Sanders versus donald trump. Think about what that will be like for this country. And, meanwhile, folks at home, from South Carolina to south bend, are trying to figure out shat any of this means for us. Because its right that there is a progressive majority, an american majority that wants to see real change, wants to see wages go up and go up faster than the ndan the cost of health and saving for retirement. But, also, theres a majority of American People who i think right now just want to be able to turn on the tv, see their president , and actually feel their Blood Pressure go down a little bit instead of up through the roof. applause we have an opportunity to set a different tone. Mr. Steyer. Bernie sanders analysis is right. The difference is i dont like his solutions. I dont believe that a government takeover the large parts of the economy makes any sense for work people or for families. I think that what we need to do is to present an alternative that includes a vibrant, competitive private sector. But we all know, unchecked capitalism has failed. The answer is not for the government to take over the private sector, though. The answer is for us to break the corporate stranglehold on our government and have the government work for the people again. Vice president biden. Let me just finish because we need to have an alternative to donald trump. Im talking about doubling the minimum wage, cutting taxes by 10 for everybody who makes less than 250,000 and creating over 4. 5 million goodpaying, union jobs. Donald trump thinks hes incompetent as a steward of the American Economy. We have to show we can create a growing, growing, prosperous economy that works for American Work people. Mr. Steyer, thank you, your time is up. Vice president biden. When we talk about progressive, lets talk about being progressive. Walking distance from here is mother emanuel church. Nine people shot dead by a white supremacist. Bernie voted five times against the brady bill, and wanted a waiting period applause no, let me finish. And waited and waited a waiting period of 12 hours. Im not saying hes responsible for the nine deaths, but that man ould not have been able to get that weapon with the waiting period had been what i suggest until you are cleared. In addition to that, being progressive, he talked barack obama, he wanted a primary he said we should primary barack obama. Someone should. And, in fact, the property was weak and our administration was in fact not up to it. Look, folks, this is lets talk about progressive. Progressive is getting things done, and thats what we got done. One. Ot a lot done. applause . Senator sanders. Senator sanders, your response. You know, pete mentioned im hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. laughter i wonder why. And maybe, you know, pete mentions what the American People want. I will tell you, pete, what the joerican people want, and, joe, what the American People want. They dont want candidates to be running to billionaires for huge amounts of funding. All right, lets clear this up once and for all. Pete has gotten funding from over 50 billionaires. Up. His needs to be cleared up. Re biden has gotten a little bit more. What the American People want, by the way, and a lot of the issues well be discussing tonight are issues i raised four years ago raising the minimum wage tie living wage, 15 bucks an hour. Making public colleges and universities tuitionfree, and finally, doing what every other major country on earth does guaranteeing health care to all people as a human right through a medicare for all, singlepayer system. I cant allow its just not true. Enator sanders were allowing everyone an opportunity opportunity to respond. That is untrue about my campaign. The idea that most my campaign is funded by billionaires. I didnt say, that pete. In in charleston alone, just in charleston, over 2,000 people have contributed to my campaign. That means the dollars that have come to my campaign, just from charleston, is more than the dollars that have come from the 50 people that you mentioned. Grassroots contributions are the life blood of my campaign. In fact, i shouldnt misthe opportunity, if youre watching r right now and you support my campaign go to peteforamerica. Com, and chip in. And if you are watching right now, and youre a billionaire, i will raise your taxes. But if youd like to defeat donald trump, please go to peteforamerica. Com and donate legal maximum of 2,800. All right, Vice President biden, i want to make i want to bring us to another topic. Were in South Carolina. Its the first primary with a significant black voting population. Your numbers appear to be slipping with black voters. And im wondering if you could respond about why that is happe happening to you at this particular time. Well, first of all, the latest poll i saw, my numbers i im still 15 points ahead, the latest poll. Ct. Yes, yes, youre correct. applause youre correct. But look but senator sanders is in strike distance of you. Are you within the margin of error in this state. It depends which look, ive earned the vote, ive worked otee the def toil earn the vote of of the African American community, not just here but across the country. Ive been coming here for years and years, creating jocks here, making sure that the port, for example, that employs one in 11 people, we put 500 million, in our administration, just into this county. Weve created jobs for people. The people know he. My my entire career has been wrapped up in dealing with civil rights and civil libertys. Hidont expect anything. I plan to earn the vote. Im here to ask. Im here to earn it. Int, folks, i intend to win South Carolina, and i will win the African American vote here in South Carolina. Mr. Mr. Biden, will you continue if you do not win South Carolina . You have said that South Carolina will determine the outcome of this president ial race. If you dont win South Carolina, ace . You continue in the race . I will win South Carolina. applause all right, sir. Mayor bloomberg, id like to bring you into this conversation. I want to ask you about a question that impacts the black and brown community. Youve apologized for stop and frisk repeatedly. What exactly are you apologizing for . We let it get out of control and when i realized that, i cut it back by 95 . And ive apologized and asked for forgiveness. Ive met with black leaders to try to get an understanding of how i can better position and that i should have done and what i should do next time. But let me tell you, i have been working very hard. Weve improved the School System ir black and brown students in new york city. Weve increased the jobs that are available to them. Thats avaiased the housing thats available to them. But what more can you do about this issue, mr. Mayor, to put peoples fears and skepticism to rest . It continues to follow you. Well, thats because its in their interest to promote that. But if you talk to the people in new york city, i have over 100 black elected officials that have endorsed me. A lot of them are in the audience tonight. And ive earned the respect of people in new york city. I was the mayor of the largest, most populous city in the United States for 12 years, and people will tell you its a lot better city today. It is safer for everybody. The School System is better. The budgets under control. Weve done the things that people need in new york city for all ethnicities. Mayor buttigieg . applause mayor to mayor, mayor to mayor, youve certainly had your issues with the black community as well. Do you think the new york citys implementation of stop and frifng was racist . Yes, in effect, it was. Because it was about profiling people based on their race. And the mayor even said that they disproportionately stopped white people too often and minorities too little. And im not here to score points. I come at this with a great deal of humility, because we have had a lot of issues, especially when it comes to Racial Justice and policing in my own community. And i and i come to this with some humility because im conscious of the fact that there are seven white people on this stage talking about Racial Justice. applause none of us none of us have the experience, the lived experience of for example, walking down the street, or in a mall, and feeling feeling eyes on us, regarding us as dangerous, without knowing the first thing about us justice because of the color of our skin. None of us had the experience that black women have had that drives that Maternal Mortality ga gap that we are all rightly horrified by, of going into a doctor, and being less likely to have your description of being in pain believed because of your race. Because we dont have the experience the next best thing we can do is listen to those who do. Wait a second, i know if i was black my success would have been a lot harder to achieve. And i know a lot of black people, if they were white it would have been a lot easier for them. Thats just a fact, and weve got to do something about it rather than just demagogue about it. Senator klobuchar was the way the mayor implemented stop and risk racist . Eedyes, and what i think we need to do instead of talking about the past is how were going to move forward. Martin luther king once said that we are all tied in a single garment of destiny, and that what affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly. So when there is racism in the criminal Justice System, then we x it. To fix it. And to me that means sentencing reform, like the first step act, and extending that to the states wit with the second step act. It means equal opportunity. Because if we dont pass representative clyburns bill out of South Carolina here to invest in impoverished communities were never going to get to that single garment of destiny. And we also need to do something about child care, about make sure we increase the minimum wage. And then, finally, voting. Bating, wisconsinsitting here debating, wisconsin has kicked hundreds of thousands of people off of their voting rolls. Georgia kicked 100,000 off. As president , i will get Voting Rights to be a reality for everyone. Senator warren, im coming to you. I want to direct this question to you because you because mayor bloomberg has said he got in this race late because he doesnt believe that any of you on stage can beat donald trump. You said mayor bloomberg is not the safest candidate. He is the riskiest candidate. What did you mean by that . I mean that mayor bloomberg lets think of it this way. Were here in charleston, and charleston later oing to be in charleston later this week is donald trump. Hes going to be here to raise money for his biddy senator Lindsey Graham, who funded Lindsey Grahams campaign for reelection last time . It was mayor bloomberg. And thats not the only rightwing senator that mayor bloomberg has funded. In 2016, he dumped 12 million into the Pennsylvania Senate race to help reelect an antichoice, rightwing republican senator. And i just want to say, the woman challenger was terrific. She lost by a single point. In 2012, he scooped in to try to defend another republican senator against a woman challenger. That was me. It didnt work, but he tried hard. applause i dont care how much money mayor bloomberg has. The core of the Democratic Party will never trust him. He has not earned their trust. I will. And the fact that he cannotarn the trust of core of the Democratic Party means he is the riskiest candidate standing on tis stage. Tis stage. N, all right, senator warren, th thank you. Mayor bloomberg, would you like to respond . Mayor bloom