Transcripts For CNNW Tom Steyer CNN Town Hall 20200225 : vim

Access to the most 4k content. And your movies and shows to go. The best tv experience is the best tv value. Xfinity x1. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity. The future of awesome. Live from charleston, South Carolina, this is a cnn town hall event. Good evening. I am chris cuomo, democratic president ial hopefuls are making final pitches to undecided voters in South Carolina. Tonight some of those voters are going to be right in this very room ready to ask their questions before deciding whom to support. Weve heard from senator sanders and former mayor buttigieg. Now please welcome businessman tom steyer. Nice to see you. Can i start by saying something . Sure. I know theres been a lot of talk this week about Bernie Sanders. And i think we all owe Bernie Sanders a lot of thanks for bringing up real issues that are confronting america and americans. And i want to say i disagree with his solutions in many instances. I dont think a government takeover of major parts of the American Economy is a good idea. I dont think its good for working people. I dont think its good for families. I know that unchecked capitalism has failed. But the solution is not for the government to take over big parts of the economy. The answer is for us to break the corporate strangle hold on our government. To actually get back to government of, by and for the people because look, we need a vibrant, competitive, dynamic private sector. Thats the goose that lays the golden egg. So we cant kill that. We need to have a government that works for the people that writes rules so that corporations have to act in a way that helps us. But lets get over the idea that somehow the government taking over major parts of the economy is a good idea. Its never worked in the past. And its not going to work for us now. So lets take a look at what weve had in terms of contests so far. Mr. Sanders has done very well to the best in all three and that means that the ideas have been tested and proven by voters. Tomorrow youre on the debate stage with him. You are in a hole versus him in terms of how those results have gone. Do you have a plan to change your fate . Well, let me say this, chris. So far bernie has 39 delegates out of the 2,000 that he needs to be the democratic nominee. So i would say the people of american havent spoken just yet. And let me say this. Were in South Carolina. This is a very diverse state. Theres a high proportion of africanamericans here. Theres a high proportion of latinos. This reflects the Democratic Party. It reflects the United States of america. I dont think we should let the three states that, together, add up to about as much as South Carolina, dictate what South Carolina has to say. How about lets let the people of South Carolina have their say and say what they care about and stop declaring that this is over and that the conversation is over and we should just end it. That is so early and premature. I cant believe it. Im just talking about the results weve had. Youre right, South Carolina is upcoming. Well see. Now, earlier tonight senator sanders defended controversial comments he made praising a Literacy Program in cuba. He said thats just the truth that it was good. He said something similar about china, saying theyve taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history. What do you make of his comments . Look, i dont think its appropriate to look at a dictator in cuba whos been there for 60 years, who has really done a terrible job for the cuban people, whos an autocrat whos never allowed dissent or elections and who has done exactly hes had the government own the economy and people are hungry and hes been a cruel controller of the country. I dont think its appropriate to be giving him a lot of compliments. I think were in a different situation. The United States is supposed to be the value driven leader of the world. We stand for freedom. We stand for democracy and justice and equality. And i think when we go out to the world we should be standing up for the things that we believe in. Thats what the whole idea of the United States is. So im never going to be complimenting people, unelected leaders, of countries who completely control without any form of democracy, justice or equality. No, i think its inappropriate, chris, i really do. Cuba and china . Look, we have serious relationships with china and were going to have it. We are bound to them economically. Were bound to them in numerous ways. But if youre asking me, will i ever compliment a regime thats unelected, that rules without the rule of law, that is that dominates its country without the kind of democracy and that we have . No, im never going to compliment that system. I dont approve of it. I dont think it works. I think we stand up for who we are around the country because were trying to be the best value driven country in the world. Thats who we are. We should be proud of it and we should never give in to somebody elses view. Question from the audience. Shortly after the 2016 election you started the campaign to impeach the president and then during the actual impeachment trial of trump many republicans said that used that to say democrats had been against trump since day one and that was a pretty effective argument for many republicans. Given that do you have any regrets about the campaign to impeach the president . Absolutely not, ann. And let me say this no. And let me first talk about why i did what i did and then let me tell you what i think about what the republicans did. We have the most corrupt president in American History. Hes he started taking payments from Foreign Countries through his Real Estate Operations on his first day. He then covered up he obstructed justice almost from his first day. I actually started the need to Impeach Movement in october of 2017. And the point was to get americans to stand up together. 8. 5 million americans signed that petition. What we were saying was theres right and wrong in this country. Its not just about a political partisan fight in washington, d. C. We have to stand up for whats right, and we were saying to people in washington, do the right thing. This isnt about the 2018 elections. This isnt about the 2020 elections. This is about doing the right thing. And if youre asking me, would i ever feel bad about doing the right things and trying to protect america . The answer is never. And let me go beyond that. Look, some of you guys know that my father prosecuted the nazi war criminals after world war ii. And he always told us if theres something deeply wrong in america stand up. Dont let it go because the germans let it go and it went to a place thats almost unimaginable. And so when republicans i believe this is the party which said about the trial in the senate, we dont care about the evidence, were not going to allow witnesses, hes innocent, we dont need to see anything and were going to do the biggest coverup in American History. Do you think i care what republicans say about the rule of law when they absolutely broke their oath to the constitution and the American People . No. I dont. And i want to say one more thing. This is a president you know, weve been reading this last week about an electronic attack on our country from russia in terms of hacking the democratic primaries. That is 21st century warfare, thats a hostile foreign country attacking the United States of america. My question then is this, wheres the commander in chief when the countrys under attack . We have another question for you. An associate director of admissions. Ken yata, an associate director of admissions for the college of charleston and the president of a hundred black men of charleston, leaning towards senator warren. How are you doing, mr. Steyer . As an africanamerican male i want to know what your plan is to reform a broken prison system that sees black and brown men being incarcerated at higher rates for lesser crimes than their white counterparts. So kenyata let me answer your question and if you dont mind im going to try to put it in a bigger context. We can all see that the criminal Justice System in america has racist elements to it from the very first part of it to the very last part of it, the way that we police is racist and has to be reformed. The way that we sentence, as you point out, is racist and has to be reformed. Black people get longer sentences for the same crime. Cash bail, which ive worked to get rid of in california, and weve gotten rid of it, is racist. Its basically saying if you cant make bail you have to go to jail before youre convicted but if you can make bail then you get to continue in your job, you continue to live with your family, you have a different relationship with the criminal Justice System. How we treat incarcerated people, as opposed to to trying to rehabilitate them using it as a form of straightforward punishment has a huge element of racism and weve got to acknowledge, this society incarcerates people at seven times the rate of other advanced societies, seven times. And its overwhelmingly black men and latinos. So what do we need to do . We need to reform every single part of this. And then we need to reform how we treat previously incarcerated people. One you should know, i said that id work to get rid of cash bail and we did. I also worked to get rid of what are called automatic sentence enhancers which says if youve been convicted before you automatically get a longer sentence. That has a huge racial overtone, we got rid of that. We cant have these mandatory harsh sentences and in florida our next gen america, our big Grassroots Organization worked to get back Voting Rights for previously incarcerated people and it happened. Im not just talking about reforming it, i have been working on this reform and getting things done for years. But i want to make one i want to make one more point to kenyatas question, the biggest thing we can do about this, we have to do all of those things but we need to break the school to prison pipeline. And thats the biggest thing, kenyata, and that is ill try and be brief but we have to recognize that that is an effort that starts very early. Its the number one correlation with going to prison. And a lot of other measures of success is third grade reading comprehension. We need to be aware that if were going to, in fact, break the school to prison pipeline we need to go and support kids and their parents very, very early so that, in fact, they get on that trajectory instead of that trajectory. Thats probably the most important thing we could do. Joe biden said yesterday, im not saying tom steyers a bad guy but tom steyer was one of the largest investors in private prisons in the United States, in contrast he and president obama were trying to get rid of private prisons. Is he right . We in my Investment Firm we bought stock in a private Prison Company 15 years ago. I thought it was the right thing. I decided it was the wrong thing and 15 years ago i sold it for moral reasons. I came to the conclusion that ive come to conclude now, this isnt a place to make money. But i didnt just make a mistake and correct it. I have worked to get rid of the use of private prisons in my home state, and weve successfully done it so that theyre not used either for incarceration or detention. So if you look i when i make a mistake, i correct it and i work on it and thats exactly whats happened here. I was saying to kenyata, i have worked to make a much less racist criminal Justice System successfully for over a decade and thats exactly what i did here. Another question, natalie morgan. Shes an Operations Manager for a business here here in charleston. Shes a supporter of senator sanders. She has a question for you. Natalie, welcome. Hi, tom, welcome to charleston. Hi, natalie, this question is most important to people in charleston and my age. Im 27 years old. I have buying a house and getting married and having kids ahead of me. What do you say to people my age who are terrified of what Climate Change will do to this planet and our futures . Natalie, thank you for asking that question. Look, number one priority, the only one, go ask them. The only one. And ive said that i will declare, just so you know, natalie, a state of emergency on climate, on the first day of my presidency. And i will use the executive Emergency Powers of the presidency to Tell Companies how they can generate electricity, what kind of cars they can build on what schedule, what kind of buildings were going to have, how were going to use our public lands, how the government, which is the biggest bey b buyer of fossil fuels in the world is going to move to clean energy. And let me say this. I did not just come to this. I have been fighting this fight for well over a decade, and i have beat Oil Companies when they tried to repeal good laws. Ive passed laws inside and outside california, 50 clean energy by 2030. Ive stopped pipelines. I stopped the last fossil fuel plant in my home state that will ever be proposed. I want to make two more points. Let me ask a couple questions first. Contextually you said earlier you dont want to have government running everything, you want to make sure it works in the right spaces, contrast that with on climate youre going to use Emergency Powers as president , i need you to explain to people where those powers come from and youre going to tell Car Companies when they can make cars and how do you reconcile those two . What im talking about is the government setting the rules of the road for corporations. I dont want to buy the Car Companies. Im not talking about taking over the electricity system. Im talking about saying these are the rules that serve the American People. Thats what the government does, chris. We stand we represent the American Peoples interests without any compromise, without any conflict and thats what im doing here. We have to deal with this on a crisis basis. But the two points i wanted to make were this. People are talking a lot ive been doing this for well over a decade. People are talking about Environmental Justice. The reason weve won all these fights, the reasons ive been successful in climate is i start with Environmental Justice. You want to deal with climate, people think its a science issue. Its a human issue with a huge racial overtone. The places in this country where people cant breathe without getting asthma, cant drink the water, are black and brown communities. Ive been to flint, michigan. Ive been to denmark, South Carolina where you cannot drink the water. The woman leading that fight, deanna berry, gets a death threat every day. Yes. So if you want to get climate right, start with the communities, the Environmental Justice communities of color as leaders. Thats what ive done my whole time. The second thing is this, this is a huge boon to the United States. We need to rebuild this country in a Climate Smart way. This is 4. 5 million good paying union jobs everywhere. People say we cant afford to do it. We will be better paid, richer, grow faster at the same time we build millions of Affordable Housing units, we need to do that. Rebuild roads and bridges, rebuild the grid. This is the biggest job program in American History at good wages. So when we talk about climate, if you dont think im right, you should start reading more stuff. Im not kidding. Natalies point is the truth. We dont have a choice on this and everybody this is a perfect example. Everybody who has a perfect plan, they need to get through congress, let me just say, congress has never passed a climate bill, ever. Thats kind of the problem, though, isnt it . What youve been successful at, if you guys have done your research about mr. Steyer, is you get communities to organize, and you get laws passed in those communities to make change. Because thats the way its supposed to happen. So if Congress Wont do it, if you cant find a way to work with congress to get it done, you say youll rely on Emergency Powers. You know, its probably what bothered lawyers, like myself, most about what the president has done on the southern border, he declared a National Emergency when there was no real legal basis for one to build the wall. How do you avoid that system of abuse of power, even if the interest of a good goal . Well, chris, this is a state of emergency. The truth of the matter is, everyone who reads it knows this is a state of emergency and we cant wait on climate. Look, there are a lot of problems. These corporations are having their way with us. If you look at the gun violence, the reason we have gun violence in this country is because gun manufacturers dont want us to solve gun violence. Its the truth. If you look at climate, the reason we have this climate crisis, the reason were the only country in the world thats not part of the paris accord is because oil and Gas Companies would rather make money for the next quarter than save the South Carolina<\/a>, this is a cnn town hall event. Good evening. I am chris cuomo, democratic president ial hopefuls are making final pitches to undecided voters in South Carolina<\/a>. Tonight some of those voters are going to be right in this very room ready to ask their questions before deciding whom to support. Weve heard from senator sanders and former mayor buttigieg. Now please welcome businessman tom steyer. Nice to see you. Can i start by saying something . Sure. I know theres been a lot of talk this week about Bernie Sanders<\/a>. And i think we all owe Bernie Sanders<\/a> a lot of thanks for bringing up real issues that are confronting america and americans. And i want to say i disagree with his solutions in many instances. I dont think a government takeover of major parts of the American Economy<\/a> is a good idea. I dont think its good for working people. I dont think its good for families. I know that unchecked capitalism has failed. But the solution is not for the government to take over big parts of the economy. The answer is for us to break the corporate strangle hold on our government. To actually get back to government of, by and for the people because look, we need a vibrant, competitive, dynamic private sector. Thats the goose that lays the golden egg. So we cant kill that. We need to have a government that works for the people that writes rules so that corporations have to act in a way that helps us. But lets get over the idea that somehow the government taking over major parts of the economy is a good idea. Its never worked in the past. And its not going to work for us now. So lets take a look at what weve had in terms of contests so far. Mr. Sanders has done very well to the best in all three and that means that the ideas have been tested and proven by voters. Tomorrow youre on the debate stage with him. You are in a hole versus him in terms of how those results have gone. Do you have a plan to change your fate . Well, let me say this, chris. So far bernie has 39 delegates out of the 2,000 that he needs to be the democratic nominee. So i would say the people of american havent spoken just yet. And let me say this. Were in South Carolina<\/a>. This is a very diverse state. Theres a high proportion of africanamericans here. Theres a high proportion of latinos. This reflects the Democratic Party<\/a>. It reflects the United States<\/a> of america. I dont think we should let the three states that, together, add up to about as much as South Carolina<\/a>, dictate what South Carolina<\/a> has to say. How about lets let the people of South Carolina<\/a> have their say and say what they care about and stop declaring that this is over and that the conversation is over and we should just end it. That is so early and premature. I cant believe it. Im just talking about the results weve had. Youre right, South Carolina<\/a> is upcoming. Well see. Now, earlier tonight senator sanders defended controversial comments he made praising a Literacy Program<\/a> in cuba. He said thats just the truth that it was good. He said something similar about china, saying theyve taken more people out of extreme poverty than any country in history. What do you make of his comments . Look, i dont think its appropriate to look at a dictator in cuba whos been there for 60 years, who has really done a terrible job for the cuban people, whos an autocrat whos never allowed dissent or elections and who has done exactly hes had the government own the economy and people are hungry and hes been a cruel controller of the country. I dont think its appropriate to be giving him a lot of compliments. I think were in a different situation. The United States<\/a> is supposed to be the value driven leader of the world. We stand for freedom. We stand for democracy and justice and equality. And i think when we go out to the world we should be standing up for the things that we believe in. Thats what the whole idea of the United States<\/a> is. So im never going to be complimenting people, unelected leaders, of countries who completely control without any form of democracy, justice or equality. No, i think its inappropriate, chris, i really do. Cuba and china . Look, we have serious relationships with china and were going to have it. We are bound to them economically. Were bound to them in numerous ways. But if youre asking me, will i ever compliment a regime thats unelected, that rules without the rule of law, that is that dominates its country without the kind of democracy and that we have . No, im never going to compliment that system. I dont approve of it. I dont think it works. I think we stand up for who we are around the country because were trying to be the best value driven country in the world. Thats who we are. We should be proud of it and we should never give in to somebody elses view. Question from the audience. Shortly after the 2016 election you started the campaign to impeach the president and then during the actual impeachment trial of trump many republicans said that used that to say democrats had been against trump since day one and that was a pretty effective argument for many republicans. Given that do you have any regrets about the campaign to impeach the president . Absolutely not, ann. And let me say this no. And let me first talk about why i did what i did and then let me tell you what i think about what the republicans did. We have the most corrupt president in American History<\/a>. Hes he started taking payments from Foreign Countries<\/a> through his Real Estate Operations<\/a> on his first day. He then covered up he obstructed justice almost from his first day. I actually started the need to Impeach Movement<\/a> in october of 2017. And the point was to get americans to stand up together. 8. 5 million americans signed that petition. What we were saying was theres right and wrong in this country. Its not just about a political partisan fight in washington, d. C. We have to stand up for whats right, and we were saying to people in washington, do the right thing. This isnt about the 2018 elections. This isnt about the 2020 elections. This is about doing the right thing. And if youre asking me, would i ever feel bad about doing the right things and trying to protect america . The answer is never. And let me go beyond that. Look, some of you guys know that my father prosecuted the nazi war criminals after world war ii. And he always told us if theres something deeply wrong in america stand up. Dont let it go because the germans let it go and it went to a place thats almost unimaginable. And so when republicans i believe this is the party which said about the trial in the senate, we dont care about the evidence, were not going to allow witnesses, hes innocent, we dont need to see anything and were going to do the biggest coverup in American History<\/a>. Do you think i care what republicans say about the rule of law when they absolutely broke their oath to the constitution and the American People<\/a> . No. I dont. And i want to say one more thing. This is a president you know, weve been reading this last week about an electronic attack on our country from russia in terms of hacking the democratic primaries. That is 21st century warfare, thats a hostile foreign country attacking the United States<\/a> of america. My question then is this, wheres the commander in chief when the countrys under attack . We have another question for you. An associate director of admissions. Ken yata, an associate director of admissions for the college of charleston and the president of a hundred black men of charleston, leaning towards senator warren. How are you doing, mr. Steyer . As an africanamerican male i want to know what your plan is to reform a broken prison system that sees black and brown men being incarcerated at higher rates for lesser crimes than their white counterparts. So kenyata let me answer your question and if you dont mind im going to try to put it in a bigger context. We can all see that the criminal Justice System<\/a> in america has racist elements to it from the very first part of it to the very last part of it, the way that we police is racist and has to be reformed. The way that we sentence, as you point out, is racist and has to be reformed. Black people get longer sentences for the same crime. Cash bail, which ive worked to get rid of in california, and weve gotten rid of it, is racist. Its basically saying if you cant make bail you have to go to jail before youre convicted but if you can make bail then you get to continue in your job, you continue to live with your family, you have a different relationship with the criminal Justice System<\/a>. How we treat incarcerated people, as opposed to to trying to rehabilitate them using it as a form of straightforward punishment has a huge element of racism and weve got to acknowledge, this society incarcerates people at seven times the rate of other advanced societies, seven times. And its overwhelmingly black men and latinos. So what do we need to do . We need to reform every single part of this. And then we need to reform how we treat previously incarcerated people. One you should know, i said that id work to get rid of cash bail and we did. I also worked to get rid of what are called automatic sentence enhancers which says if youve been convicted before you automatically get a longer sentence. That has a huge racial overtone, we got rid of that. We cant have these mandatory harsh sentences and in florida our next gen america, our big Grassroots Organization<\/a> worked to get back Voting Rights<\/a> for previously incarcerated people and it happened. Im not just talking about reforming it, i have been working on this reform and getting things done for years. But i want to make one i want to make one more point to kenyatas question, the biggest thing we can do about this, we have to do all of those things but we need to break the school to prison pipeline. And thats the biggest thing, kenyata, and that is ill try and be brief but we have to recognize that that is an effort that starts very early. Its the number one correlation with going to prison. And a lot of other measures of success is third grade reading comprehension. We need to be aware that if were going to, in fact, break the school to prison pipeline we need to go and support kids and their parents very, very early so that, in fact, they get on that trajectory instead of that trajectory. Thats probably the most important thing we could do. Joe biden said yesterday, im not saying tom steyers a bad guy but tom steyer was one of the largest investors in private prisons in the United States<\/a>, in contrast he and president obama were trying to get rid of private prisons. Is he right . We in my Investment Firm<\/a> we bought stock in a private Prison Company<\/a> 15 years ago. I thought it was the right thing. I decided it was the wrong thing and 15 years ago i sold it for moral reasons. I came to the conclusion that ive come to conclude now, this isnt a place to make money. But i didnt just make a mistake and correct it. I have worked to get rid of the use of private prisons in my home state, and weve successfully done it so that theyre not used either for incarceration or detention. So if you look i when i make a mistake, i correct it and i work on it and thats exactly whats happened here. I was saying to kenyata, i have worked to make a much less racist criminal Justice System<\/a> successfully for over a decade and thats exactly what i did here. Another question, natalie morgan. Shes an Operations Manager<\/a> for a business here here in charleston. Shes a supporter of senator sanders. She has a question for you. Natalie, welcome. Hi, tom, welcome to charleston. Hi, natalie, this question is most important to people in charleston and my age. Im 27 years old. I have buying a house and getting married and having kids ahead of me. What do you say to people my age who are terrified of what Climate Change<\/a> will do to this planet and our futures . Natalie, thank you for asking that question. Look, number one priority, the only one, go ask them. The only one. And ive said that i will declare, just so you know, natalie, a state of emergency on climate, on the first day of my presidency. And i will use the executive Emergency Powers<\/a> of the presidency to Tell Companies<\/a> how they can generate electricity, what kind of cars they can build on what schedule, what kind of buildings were going to have, how were going to use our public lands, how the government, which is the biggest bey b buyer of fossil fuels in the world is going to move to clean energy. And let me say this. I did not just come to this. I have been fighting this fight for well over a decade, and i have beat Oil Companies<\/a> when they tried to repeal good laws. Ive passed laws inside and outside california, 50 clean energy by 2030. Ive stopped pipelines. I stopped the last fossil fuel plant in my home state that will ever be proposed. I want to make two more points. Let me ask a couple questions first. Contextually you said earlier you dont want to have government running everything, you want to make sure it works in the right spaces, contrast that with on climate youre going to use Emergency Powers<\/a> as president , i need you to explain to people where those powers come from and youre going to tell Car Companies<\/a> when they can make cars and how do you reconcile those two . What im talking about is the government setting the rules of the road for corporations. I dont want to buy the Car Companies<\/a>. Im not talking about taking over the electricity system. Im talking about saying these are the rules that serve the American People<\/a>. Thats what the government does, chris. We stand we represent the American People<\/a>s interests without any compromise, without any conflict and thats what im doing here. We have to deal with this on a crisis basis. But the two points i wanted to make were this. People are talking a lot ive been doing this for well over a decade. People are talking about Environmental Justice<\/a>. The reason weve won all these fights, the reasons ive been successful in climate is i start with Environmental Justice<\/a>. You want to deal with climate, people think its a science issue. Its a human issue with a huge racial overtone. The places in this country where people cant breathe without getting asthma, cant drink the water, are black and brown communities. Ive been to flint, michigan. Ive been to denmark, South Carolina<\/a> where you cannot drink the water. The woman leading that fight, deanna berry, gets a death threat every day. Yes. So if you want to get climate right, start with the communities, the Environmental Justice<\/a> communities of color as leaders. Thats what ive done my whole time. The second thing is this, this is a huge boon to the United States<\/a>. We need to rebuild this country in a Climate Smart<\/a> way. This is 4. 5 million good paying union jobs everywhere. People say we cant afford to do it. We will be better paid, richer, grow faster at the same time we build millions of Affordable Housing<\/a> units, we need to do that. Rebuild roads and bridges, rebuild the grid. This is the biggest job program in American History<\/a> at good wages. So when we talk about climate, if you dont think im right, you should start reading more stuff. Im not kidding. Natalies point is the truth. We dont have a choice on this and everybody this is a perfect example. Everybody who has a perfect plan, they need to get through congress, let me just say, congress has never passed a climate bill, ever. Thats kind of the problem, though, isnt it . What youve been successful at, if you guys have done your research about mr. Steyer, is you get communities to organize, and you get laws passed in those communities to make change. Because thats the way its supposed to happen. So if Congress Wont<\/a> do it, if you cant find a way to work with congress to get it done, you say youll rely on Emergency Powers<\/a>. You know, its probably what bothered lawyers, like myself, most about what the president has done on the southern border, he declared a National Emergency<\/a> when there was no real legal basis for one to build the wall. How do you avoid that system of abuse of power, even if the interest of a good goal . Well, chris, this is a state of emergency. The truth of the matter is, everyone who reads it knows this is a state of emergency and we cant wait on climate. Look, there are a lot of problems. These corporations are having their way with us. If you look at the gun violence, the reason we have gun violence in this country is because gun manufacturers dont want us to solve gun violence. Its the truth. If you look at climate, the reason we have this climate crisis, the reason were the only country in the world thats not part of the paris accord is because oil and Gas Companies<\/a> would rather make money for the next quarter than save the United States<\/a> of america. We are in a position this is an emergency. This is a crisis. And, in fact, the president has Emergency Powers<\/a>. There are 57 of them and thats exactly what im talking about doing so actually this is constitutional. The abuse is when you claim a crisis is a crisis, which it isnt. The point here is this. We have to do it. Im telling you, ive spent way more than a decade on it. We can do it and we can do it in a way that makes us more just, richer, and healthier. We have to do it. This is the time to do it and if no one else is pushing for this then theyre not reading the science. Because this is a human problem, but its got a Science Basis<\/a> and Mother Nature<\/a> is not interested in excuses for why our papers going to be late. Bring in steven specter, hes a Business Innovation<\/a> and management in mount pleasant, currently undecided, steven, welcome. Welcome, tom, as we just heard you claim to be proenvironment and raising significant alarm about Climate Change<\/a>. Yet, we have been receiving so many mailings from your campaign, literally three to five times per week, for months now. And canvassers from your campaign have left, i cant tell you how much printed material at our front door. How do you justify this unnecessary overkill of mailings in a Digital World<\/a> that would be much more environmentally friendly. Steven, let me say this, i think were also bombarding you with digital material. But we have tried to use only recyclable materials and youre asking me, we really do try and use only recyclable materials. The second thing i want to say is this, i walk the walk in my life in terms of climate, this terms of my footprint. Im the only person in this race who never gets on a private plane to go to a meeting. Only person. Thats probably the single biggest Greenhouse Gas<\/a> emitter you can do anywhere in the world is fly private. The second thing you should know is this, my wife and i raise cattle, chicken and pigs and were doing it in a way to try and show that actually you can sequester carbon if you do regenerative agriculture, you can do it in a way that takes carbon out of the atmosphere and puts it in the soil. When someone asks me whats my carbon footprint, i know the way i emit carbon and i believe on our ranch we are sequestering many times more Greenhouse Gas<\/a>es through what were doing there than were doing in Everything Else<\/a> in our life. And so when people say to me, are you walking the walk . The answer is, i am intentionally doing every single thing, including never flying private. Go look and see how much Greenhouse Gas<\/a> is emitted every time a plane takes off. If someones asking me, do i live up to what im saying in my life . The answer is yes. Tom steyer, stay with us. Were going to take a break and when we come back, more questions. Whats going on . Its the 3pm slump. Should have had a p3. Oh yeah. Should have had a p3. Need energy . Get p3. With a mix of meat, cheese and nuts. Infallible up to 24hr demand morfresh wear. Wear. By loreal paris. Excellent coverage with no weigh down. A breathable formula for fresh skin hour after hour. Defies transfer, no excess. Infallible up to 24hr fresh wear. By loreal paris. I am totally blind. And non24 can make me show up too early. Or too late. Or make me feel like im not really there. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442342424. Tmobile has the first and only, nationwide 5g network. And with it, you can shape the future. Weve invested 30 billion dollars and built our new 5g network for businesses like yours. While some 5g signals only go a few blocks, tmobile 5g goes for miles. No other 5g signal goes farther or is more reliable in business. Tomorrow is in your hands. Partner with tmobile for business today. Try to win by attacking, now, we know the trump strategy distorting, dividing. Mr. President it. Wont. Work. Newspapers report bloomberg is the democrat trump fears most. As president , universal healthcare that lets people keep their coverage if they like it. A record on job creation. A doable plan to combat Climate Change<\/a>. I led a complex, diverse city through 911 and i have common sense plans to move america away from chaos to progress im Mike Bloomberg<\/a> and i approve this message. Welcome back, were live here in charleston, South Carolina<\/a>. A democratic president ial town hall, we have businessman tom steyer with us. Good to have you again, sir. Always a pleasure. Im going to ask you a news of day question, coronavirus, everybody is hearing about it, trying to keep expectations in check. We believe its spreading now quickly outside of china. If and when they were to develop a vaccine, if you were president would you mandate that americans take the vaccine . If it were necessary to take the vaccine to prevent the spread of the coronavirus through the United States<\/a>, yes, i would. But let me i want to talk for a second about coronavirus. Because what were seeing is that this is a pandemic that hasnt been handled well. You know, if you remember in 2014 there was an Ebola Outbreak<\/a> in africa. And the republicans screamed and yelled that president obama wasnt handling it well, that it was going to cause millions of deaths, that he was incompetent and that it was out of control. Actually, president obama did a fantastic job. You know, he got the center for Disease Control<\/a> on top of it. They went over to africa. They led the charge there. The only only a couple americans died and they got it in africa and then came back here so, in fact, president obama did a fantastic job of controlling it. Were seeing the exact opposite from this president. Were seeing a president who just asked congress for money to deal with it today. The World Health Organization<\/a> declared an emergency in january. So what were seeing here, the coronavirus may or may not turn into a worldwide epidemic but what we know for sure is that its going to have a huge impact on the World Economy<\/a> as we try to deal with it. Theyre shutting down Economic Activity<\/a> in china but in other parts of the world too because people are afraid to interact and to travel. Lets get a question from scott muller, a psychologist and leadership coach from danielle island, currently undecided. Scott . Good evening. My question is about leadership style. Many people feel that President Trump<\/a> has worsened the mess in washington by adopting a top down ceo like approach in office. You have campaigned on your success as a businessman. Whats to say you wouldnt try to lead the country in the same kind of autocratic manner . Scott, thats a fair question. It just isnt true about me. My attitude about how i like to relate to people on in any organization that im in, and let me say, ive started one of the largest Grassroots Organization<\/a>s in the United States<\/a> and this is exactly how we do that and its how my campaign works. I am somebody who played team sports my entire life. The actual im not a hierical person, the way i like to relate to people is have people Work Together<\/a> where you have your role and you trust the other people on the team to do their job and then you coordinate together. So, in fact, what youre describing is the exact opposite of the way i like to work. I like to work from the bottom up in a grassroots way. If im going to come to South Carolina<\/a> to talk about Environmental Justice<\/a> then i want to go to denmark and meet the people in denmark, South Carolina<\/a> and listen to them about whats going on in the ground. I am someone who trusts to me the key question is do you get the right people . You have to trust them to do their jobs. They have to trust you. In fact, i have a completely different way of running an organization than mr. Trump. Actually, im someone whos a team builder, who believes in data, who believes in actually when i look at his foreign policy, hes doing the exact same thing. He doesnt believe in values. He doesnt believe in teams. I believe in the old business saying that culture, that who you are and the values that you live and espouse are the most important thing because strategy comes out of values. Mr. Trump doesnt have any values that i can see. Another question, get your perspective on this. The Democratic Party<\/a> spends a lot of time talking about not wanting money in politics. There was a time when you were known as the guy who was spending a lot of your own money, up to 200 million on the campaign but now youve got another guy in the race named Michael Bloomberg<\/a> whos making you look thrifty when it comes to spending your own money. Hes at 500 million, commitments go to a billion or more. How much is too much money to put into a campaign . Look, my experience in what ive done in everything is if i see a big problem in the United States<\/a> i try and go after it as hard as i can and put in time and effort and money. If you look at what ive done in South Carolina<\/a> ive spent more time on the ground in South Carolina<\/a> than anybody else. Ive traveled around this state, ive met people. Ive you know, i have when i talk about Environmental Justice<\/a> ive been to denmark. You know, i have talked to people who are doubling up in apartments with two families in one twobedroom apartment with one bathroom where everybody in the family is working. Thats how bad the wages are here. Ive talked to people who are whose relatives in the last month have died because they live in a health desert. And so when somebody gets in an accident or has a heart attack they dont get to the hospital in time, they die. So when i think about what i believe in politics the most important thing i believe in is meet the people, listen to them, and have a message thats differential and see if people believe that your message is what counts and that your heart is in the right place. When i listen to mr. Bloomberg my attitude about mike is simple, whats your message . Is your heart in the right place . And so to me ive said since he started, you want to represent the Democratic Party<\/a>, you want to wear the Diverse Party<\/a> that represents working people across this country, you want to represent that, you want to represent the values of this party . Then you have to be for a wealth tax, particularly a rich guy like you, because what were seeing is unbearable inequality in this country, unbearable inequality in terms of how much money people make, unbearable inequality in the most unfair tax regime where rich people pay lower percentage of their income than working people. Thats so unamerican that its hard to believe that its true. And i think if you want to represent the Democratic Party<\/a> you have to realize that facing up to and reversing this inequality is job one. If you arent going to fight for the working people of this country then you shouldnt represent the Democratic Party<\/a> and if Mike Bloomberg<\/a> wants to have the right message he should do that and everybody can listen to what he has to say and decide for themselves. Is what he saying true . Is his heart in the right place . Thats my answer. Another question. Roxann scott. As africanamericans, my husband and i are fortunate to have obtained a College Education<\/a>. However, we find ourselves still paying for Student Loans<\/a> while we have two students in college. Do you have a plan to reduce Student Loan Debt<\/a> for middle class individuals and how do you plan to pay for it . So let me say this. I believe that a College Education<\/a> has to be affordable for everybody in the United States<\/a>. 44 Million People<\/a> have student debt. And half of them have delayed getting married or having a kid because of it so you can see its a personal a situation as possible. What im talking about is two years of Free Community<\/a> college. A 1 interest rate, one of the biggest issues with Student Loans<\/a> is people start with 25,000 or 30,000 in debt and they end up paying 80,000 to 100,000 in debt. Every dollar you pay goes to reduce the principal. If you do a job where youre working on behalf of the country or the community, so if youre in the military, your a teacher, a nurse, a social worker, after ten years it just goes away. What were seeing here and let me Say Something<\/a> else. Were in South Carolina<\/a>. Ive said almost every single policy issue in the United States<\/a> has a substantial racial subtext. Im the person who believes that we should put 125 billion over ten years into the historically black colleges and university and i want to do it because theyve worked, because theres a reason they exist, which is black kids werent allowed to go to the mainline colleges and universities. Those schools have produced over half the black generals, judges, doctors, teachers and engineers. And theyre starved for money and they have high tuition as a result. Im talking about putting in somewhere between 30 every single year, 30 times more than what theyre getting now from the federal government so that we can reduce tuition, so that, in fact, those institutions can flourish at a level they never have before and they deserve it and its important to the kitds and its important to the communities where they reside. Another question. From a student at the college of charleston, currently undecided. Good afternoon, mr. Tom. So reported by the u. S. Bureau of labor in 2018 the proportion of people with disabilities employed within the population was 19. 1 while for people without disabilities is was 65. 9 . If chosen to be the president of the United States<\/a> of america how would your policies improve employment rates and equal Employment Opportunities<\/a> for persons with disabilities . So marlaya i know that the government has fallen down on its responsibilities to support people with disabilities, starting with education. The government has never funded what it has promised it would pay for the individuals with disabilities education act. The federal government said it would pay 40 of the cost. It pays about a quarter that much and that means that its relied on states to do it and its really let it down. The other thing thats true is that we know for people with serious disabilities to work outside the home they need to be supported in the home so that they can actually get to their job if they, in fact, dont get that support they really cant work outside the home. In addition, we cant allow people to pay people with disabilities less as a result of that disability. Honestly, look, this is a perfect example of why we need a government because we need to be investing and supporting people across this country, including specifically people with disabilities, so that they can live as full a life as possible and contribute to society as much as possible. Thats exactly what i would like to do. Okay . Marlaya, thank you, another question a founder and ceo of a recruiting company. Undecided, leaning toward buttigieg. Jared. Thank you, chris, hi, tom. Jared, how you doing . Well, thank you. My family and i recently moved to charleston, South Carolina<\/a>, we have a 2yearold and a 14weekold. Wow. Thank you, its been busy. I think about what life will be like for my kids as they start going to school. What is the first thing you would do to combat against Future School<\/a> shootings in this country if you are elected president . We have we have an unacceptable level of gun violence in this country and the number of Mass Shootings<\/a> and mass killings in this country dwarves any other country. We had 400 last year. Other countries have three or less. We also have to remember that we have spousal related gun violence at a level thats wildly unacceptable. We have streets here in South Carolina<\/a> that people are scared to walk down because of gun violence and 60 of gun related deaths are suicides. We have a gun violence epidemic. And one of the most painful aspects of it is the idea that were doing active shooter drills in Public Schools<\/a> in first grade. So what am i in favor of . I know that corporations have bought this government. I know over 90 of americans, democrats, republicans and independents want mandatory background checks on every gun purchase. And we cant get it through the senate of the United States<\/a> because the gun manufacturers own the senate of the United States<\/a>. So if you look at what im for i am for mandatory background checks. I am for licensing gun owners. We license car owners. We should license gun owners. Im for registering every ar. Im for forbidding the sale of future assault weapons in high capacity magazines, im for red flag laws. In fact, im for voluntary repurchase of assault weapons. So in order for us to pass this legislation we actually have to take back this government because the senate of the United States<\/a> under Mitch Mcconnell<\/a> wont consider any of those things even though 90 of americans want some of them. So you guys should know im for term limits of 12 years for senators and congresspeople. And if we want real change we need new and different people in charge. We need it. And, you know, look, the sixword argument for term limits, Mitch Mcconnell<\/a>, lindsey graham, ted cruz. You want to change this . Payton russell is next, a student at the college of charleston, undecided, welcome. Thank you for being here and thank you for fielding my question. As weve seen in South Carolina<\/a> and in charleston, especially, home grown terrorism has become a more prominent issue in recent times. Will you be willing to declare neonazi, all ttright and othe terrorist organizations, if not, why . Payton, of course i will. They are terrorist organizations. And let me talk for a second though. Look, ive been saying that there is a racial subtext to almost every policy area in the United States<\/a> and im the person running whos for reparations for slavery because i believe that we need to tell the true story of the last 400 plus years of the africanamerican experience in the United States<\/a> because if you want to get just policy you have to tell a true narrative of how we got here. I would start a formal commission on race the first day of my presidency. It would be solutions oriented. But the idea would be to tell the story of systematic, legal discrimination, injustice and cruelty for over 400 years. But it would also be the story of over 400 years of africanamerican contribution to the United States<\/a> of america, not just who built this country, but the moral leadership that the Africanamerican Community<\/a> has given to the entire country for generations and centuries. The wrong is obvious. The remedy is what has to be discussed. If the commission suggested direct Cash Payments<\/a> to the descendants of slaves, do you support the recommendation of the commission . Yes. Look, the point is this. What i started by saying was, just policy comes out of true narrative. If you want an unjust policy, tell a lie about somebody. If you want to torture latino kids, say their parents are rapists and murderers to justify it. If you want to tell the truth about the africanamerican experience here and you how did we get here . If we want to figure out how to repair the wrong together we have to go back and tell the story of whats happened so that we understand how we got here so together we come up with the right solution, chris. It would be inappropriate for me to mandate the solution. This is something we have to work through together but there has thats why when i was talking about the historically black colleges and universities, theres a narrative there. About why those schools are so important. Theres a narrative about how theyve performed. There is a policy that comes out of those truths. That is inescapable. And i believe look, the im not kidding about this moral leadership. If you go back one of the things thats true. George w. Bush got war powers to fight the war on terror that were virtually unlimited. Its turned out to be a big mistake. Most people recognize that. There are 435 congresspeople and 100 senators in the United States<\/a>. 434 congresspeople and 100 senators voted for that. One person voted against it, a black congresswoman from oakland, barbara lee. Its not a fluke. There has been moral leadership from africanamericans before dr. King, long before dr. King, and after dr. Kings assassination. And it is time for americans to realize that thats been going on, the contribution has been magnificent. And its time for us to go back through that history, figure out all the things that were done wrong and repair them so that we can move on together. Lets take a break, well get more questions for tom steyer right after this. s my liveliho. Rock music man so im not taking any chances when something happens to it. So when my windshield cracked. My friend recommended safelite autoglass. Tech hi, im adrian. Man thanks for coming. Tech oh, no problem. Tech check it out. Man yeah. They came right to me, with Expert Service<\/a> where i needed it. Thats service i can trust. No matter what im hauling. Right, girl . 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Good thing xfinity has twohour appointment windows. They have night and weekend appointments too. Hes here. Bill . Karolyn . Nope no, just a couple of rocks. Download the my account app to manage your appointments making todays Xfinity Customer Service<\/a> simple, easy, awesome. Ill pass. A book that youre ready to share with the world . Get published now, call for your free publisher kit today welcome back. Were live in charleston, South Carolina<\/a>. With businessman tom steyer. All right. A question for you from the people here from assistant Vice President<\/a> at the university. Currently undecided. Welcome. Thank you. My only son who will be 18 and voting for the first time in 2020. What are you doing to appeal to his generation to make him feel like you have his best interest at heart as he enters college, by the way, hes totally discouraged by the political scene and is undecided. You should know that i started a Grass Roots Organization<\/a> called next gne america. That organizes people between ages 18 sp 35 and 2018 did the largest youth Voter Mobilization<\/a> in American History<\/a>. We talk to millions of kids who are your sons age. I can tell you the they voted half the rate at other american citizens. Its the biggest generation in america. Bigger than the boomers. Most diverse in American History<\/a>. Most progressive generation in america. And we always is ask them why they dont vote. They say nobody tells the truth. Both parties are serving themselves. This is government bought by corporation. Its a failed system. Why participate . Thats the start of the conversation. When we ask them what they care about they normally come back with four big issues. Healthcare, cost of college, Racial Justice<\/a> and climate. Let me say this, not only have i been organizing young people because i believe we dont have a democracy if the biggest generation is voting 20 . If one out of five 18 yearolds is voting. Thats a broken system. Of the four issues, climate is this is charleston South Carolina<\/a>. Its a real issue. Especially here. I am making my stand on climate. Chris cuomo is telling me im being too aggressive on climate. Im telling you, im doing what has to be done. Im talking about race, Racial Justice<\/a>. Im the person here standing up and saying theres a racial subtext to almost everything. Im for reparations for slavery. I gave you my plan in terms of making College Affordable<\/a> for every kid. And healthcare. Im not one of the people who believe the government should take over the healthcare system. I believe every american has a constitutional right to affordable healthcare in the 21st sench are. The government has it drive town the cost. I believe we can do it by putting a public option on the Affordable Care<\/a> act. Building on the Affordable Care<\/a> act. And lee people a choice. Leave people a choice. If you want healthcare through your employer, do it. Let me say this. I have worked on these issues for decades. My heart is in the issues. I am here in South Carolina<\/a>, i have been on the ground in South Carolina<\/a> meting people more than anybody else. Im absolutely committed to the work and values. Tell him that no matter what, win lose or draw. I will never stop working on these issues. I will never take a step back. I will never give into the republicans. Mr. Steyer, thank you very much. Chris cuomo. Appreciate you being here. All right. That was tom steyer the cnn democratic president ial town halls from South Carolina<\/a>. Will continue this wednesday we have former new york city mayor bloomberg. Former Vice President<\/a> joe biden. Senator klobuchar. And senator elizabeth warren. It starts at 7 00 p. M. Eastern. We want to thank the studio audience tonight for the questions. The auditorium for hosting us and the college of charleston for the help with the event. Stay tuned. Anderson is coming up right now. T bacteria. 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Unleash your potential with probioslim, the 1 probiotic fat burner at walmart. Good evening. Were just an hour away from the first of three cnn town halls tonight. Bernie sanders, Pete Buttigieg<\/a> and tom steyer taking questions from voters in South Carolina<\/a>. Michael bloomberg postponed hid appearance tonight opting instead to prep more for tomorrow nights debate which could be crucial given his performance his first time out. Reports he appears to be positioning himself to try to focus his attacks on Bernie Sanders<\/a>. Then theres joe biden trying to make South Carolina<\/a> the spark to revive his campaign, about to receive the endorsement of congressman james clyburn. Well talk about that and new reporting on russian interference which an official said was driven by a desire to, quote, watch us tear ourselves apart. A russian dissident and chess grandmaster joins us with his thoughts on the subject. Along those lines reporting from cnn and elsewhere the white house and white house allies have been making lists of government officials to be purged because theyre perceived to be disloyal to the president , the kind of thing that used to happen at the kremlin happening here and now. The democratic race, new insights in the race in nevada and South Carolina<\/a>","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia802802.us.archive.org\/25\/items\/CNNW_20200225_040000_Tom_Steyer_CNN_Town_Hall\/CNNW_20200225_040000_Tom_Steyer_CNN_Town_Hall.thumbs\/CNNW_20200225_040000_Tom_Steyer_CNN_Town_Hall_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240618T12:35:10+00:00"}