Post democratic president ial debate live from atlanta, georgia, and the tyler perry studios. Here is Rachel Maddow. Hello and welcome to the msnbc the Washington PostDemocratic Candidates debate. At least some of us are very, very happy to be here tonight. Im Rachel Maddow here in atlanta, georgia, tonight with my fellow moderators. Andrea mitchell host of Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Ashley parker White House Reporter for the Washington Post. And Kristen Welker is nbc News White House correspondent. Well be covering a wide range of topics tonight including National Security, race, and climate. Each candidate will have 1 minute, 15 seconds to answer our questions and 45 seconds if we need to followup. And we ask the audience to respect the candidates and please dont interrupt. Theres ten candidates here tonight. No time to waste. Lets get right to it. Were in the middle of the fourth president ial impeachment proceedings in our nations history. Ambassador Gordon Sondland delivered testimony today in the house impeachment inquiry that buttressed the case that President Trump withheld military aid to yukraine and a white house meeting with president zelensky because he wanted the ukrainian president to announce investigations that would benefit President Trump politically. Senator warren, you have said already that youve seen enough to convict the president and remove him from office. You and four of your colleagues on this stage tonight who are also u. S. Senators may soon have to take that vote. Will you try to convince your republican colleagues in the senate to vote the same way . And if so, how . Of course i will. And the obvious answer is to say first read the mueller report. All 442 pages of it that showed how the president tried to obstruct justice. And when congress failed to act that that moment, and that the president felt free to break the law again and again and again. And thats whats happened with ukraine. We have to establish the principle no one is above the law. We have a constitutional responsibility, and we need to meet it. But i want to add one more part based on todays testimony and that is how did ambassador sondland get there. You know, this is not a man who had any qualifications except one. He wrote a check for a million dollars. And that tells us about whats happening in washington, the corruption. How money buys its way into washington. You know, i raised this months ago about the whole notion that donors think theyre going to get ambassadorships on the other side. And ive taken a pledge. Anyone who wants to give me a big donation, dont ask to be an ambassador because im not going to have that happen. I asked everyone whos running for president to join me in that. And not a Single Person has so far. I hope what we saw today during the testimony means lots of people will signon and say we are not going to give away the ambassador posts to the highest bidder. Senator warren, thank you. Senator klobuchar, youve said you support the impeachment inquiry but you want to wait for a senate trial to hear the evidence and make a decision about convicting the president. After the bombshell testimony of ambassador sondland today, has that view changed for you . I have made it very clear that this is impeachable conduct. And ive called for an impeachment proceeding. I just believe our job as jurors is to look at each count and make a decision. But let me make very clear that what this impeachment proceeding about is really our democracy at stake. This is president that not only with regard to his conduct with ukraine but every step of the way puts his own private interests, his own partisan interests, his own political interests in front of our countrys interests. And this is wrong. This is pattern with this man, and it goes to everything from how he has betrayed our farmers and our workers to what he has done with Foreign Affairs. Leaving the kurds for slaughter, sucking up to Vladimir Putin every minute of the day. That is what this guy does. And i think it is very, very important that we have a president thats going to put our country first. I was thinking about this when i was at the carter president ial museum, and on the wall are etched the words when he looked back at their four years not perfect, and he said this. We tell the truth, we obey the law, we kept the peace. We told the truth, we obeyed the law, we kept the peace. That is the minimum we should expect in a president of the United States. Senator sanders, id like to go to you. Americans are watching these impeachment hearings at the same time theyre also focused on the more immediate daily and economic and family concerns. How central should the president s conduct uncovered by this impeachment inquiry be to any democratic nominees campaign for president . How central would it be to yours . Well, rachel, sadly we have a president whos not only a pathological liar, hes likely the most corrupt president in the modern history of america. But we cannot simply be consumed by donald trump. Because if we are, you know what . Were going to lose the election. Right now youve got 87 Million People who have no Health Insurance or underinsured. Were facing the great existential crisis of our time in terms of Climate Change. Youve got 500,000 people sleeping out on the street and 18 million paying off of that limited income. What the American People can understand is that the congress can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time. In other words, we can deal with trumps corruption but we also have to stand up for the working families of this country. We also have to stand up to the fact that our political system is corrupt, dominated by a handful of billionaires. And that our economy is rigged with three people owning more wealth than the bottom half of america. We can do it all when we rally the American People in the cause of justice. Mayor buttigieg, let me put the same question to you. How central should the president s conduct uncovered by the impeachment inquiry be to a campaign, be to yours . It is not a part of the campaign, but the president s conduct is. The impeachable conduct that we have seen and the abuse of power that were learning more about in the investigations, but just to be clear, the president s already confessed to it on television. But thats just part of what weve seen. Under normal circumstances a president would leave office after something that was revealed recently that barely got any attention at all, which was the president had to confess in writing, in court to illegally diverting charitable contributions that were supposed to go to veterans. We are absolutely going to confront this president for wrongdoing, but were also each running to be the president who will lead this country after the Trump Presidency comes to an end one way or the other. And running to be the president for that day the sun comes up and the Trump Presidency is behind us, which will be a tender moment in the life of this country. And we are going to have to unify a nation that will be as divided as ever. And while doing it, address big issues that didnt take a vacation for the impeachment process or for the Trump Presidency as a whole, a climate approaching a point of no return. The fact weve still got to act on health care, kids learning active shooter drills before they learn to read. And an economy where even the dow jones is looking good, far too Many Americans have to fight like hell just to hold onto what theyve got. Those are the crysies awaiting the next president and will be at the heart of our campaign. Youve suggested in your campaign if you defeat President Trump, republicans will start working with democrats again. But right now republicans are demanding investigations not only of you but also of your son. How would you get those same republicans to work with you . Look, the next president of the United States is going to have to do two things. Defeat donald trump, thats number one. And number two, going to have to be able to go into states like georgia and North Carolina and other places and get a senate majority. Thats what ill do. You have to ask yourself up here who is most likely to be able to win the nomination in the first place, to win the presidency in the first place . And secondly, who is most likely to increase the number of people who are democrats in the house and in the senate . And by the way, i learned something about these impeachment trials. I learned number one that donald trump doesnt want me to be the nominee. Thats pretty clear. He held up aid to make sure that while at the same time innocent people are getting killed by russian soldiers. And secondly i found out that Vladimir Putin doesnt want me to be president. So ive learned a lot about these early on from these hearings that are being held. But the bottom line is i think we have to ask ourselves the honest question, who is most likely to do what needs to be done . Produce a democratic majority in the United States senate, maintain the house and beat trump. Senator harris, your thoughts about that. Well, first of all, we have a criminal living in the white house. And there is no question that in 2020 the Biggest Issue before us until we get to that tender moment is justice is on the ballot. And what we saw today is ambassador sondland by his own words told us that everyone was in the loop. That means it is a criminal enterprise engaged in by the president from what we heard today, the Vice President , the secretary of state and the chief of staff. And so this not only points to the corrupt nature of this administration and the need for these impeachment proceedings to go forward, but it also point to another issue. And back to the question that you asked earlier, which what does this mean for the American People . Because what it means when i watched this is there are clearly two different set of rules for two different groups in america. The powerful people who with their arrogance think they can get away with this and then everybody else. Because heres the thing, those working people working two or three jobs, if tay dont pay that credit card bill by the end of the month they get a penalty fr and for the people who shoplift, they go to jail. We have to bring justice back to america for all people and not just for some. Thank you, senator. Senator warren, you have cast yourself as a fighter. If you were elected, though, you would be walking into an existing fight. A country that is already very divided over the Trump Presidency among other things. Do you see that divide as permanent, or do you need to bring the country together if you become president to achieve your goals . So i think the way we achieve our goals and bring our country together is we talk about the things that unite us. And that is that we want to build an america that works for the people, not one that just works for rich folks. You know, i have proposed a 2 cent wealth tax. That is tax for everybody who has more than 50 billion in assets. Your first 50 billion is free and clear. But your 50 billion and first dollar youve got to pitch in 2 cents. And doing a welt tax is not about punishing anyone. Its about saying you built something great in this country, good for you. But you did it using all the workers all of us helped educate. You did it protected by police and firefighters all of of us helped pay the salaries for. So when you make it big, when you make it top one tenth of 1 big, pitch in 2 cents so everybody gets a chance to make it. And heres the thing thats something democrats care about, independents care about and republicans care about. Because regardless of Party Affiliation people understand across this country our government is working better and better for the billionaires, the rich and wellconnected and worse and worse for everyone else. We come together when we acknowledge that. Thank you, senator. Senator booker, do you agree with that strategy . We actually have a real problem with the tax race, tax loopholes, tax cheats. And i dont agree with the wealth tax the way that Elizabeth Warren puts it, but i agree we need to raise the estate tax. We need to tax Capital Gains as ordinary income. Real strategies will increase revenue. But heres the challenge, we as democrats need to fight for a just taxation system. But as i travel around the country we democrats also have to talk about how to grow wealth as well. When i stood in church recently and asked folks in a black church how many people here want to be entrepreneurs, half the church raised their hands. If we as a country dont Start Talking if we as a party dont talk about how to create wealth, to grow businesses, how to have their american dream. Because we need to raise the minimum wage. But the people in communities i frequent their aspiration for their lives is not just to have those fair wages. They want to have economies that provide not just equality in welt but equality in opportunities. And thats what our party has to be as well. Senator warren, you want to respond . Sure. Let me tell you what we can do with that 2 cent tax wealth. And we can provide universal child care for every baby in this country and that is transformative. We can provide universal prek for every 3yearold and 4yearold in america. We can stop exploiting the women, largely black and brown women who do this work. And we can raise the wages of every Child Care Worker and preschoolteacher in america. We can put 800 billion new federal dollars into all of our public schools. We can make college tuitionfree for every kid. We can put 50 billion into historically black colleges and universities. And we can cancel Student Loan Debt for 95 of the folks who have got it. 2 cent wealth tax and we can invest in an entire generations future. Let me let senator booker respond. I agree with the need to do all of those things. Were all united in wanting to see universal preschool. And ill fight for that. Were all united in wanting to fund hbcus. But the tax were putting forward right now, the wealth tax im sorry its cumbersome. Its been tried by the nation. Its hard to evaluate. We as democrats have got to Start Talking not just how we tack but grow wealth. 75 go to three metropolitan areas. There is worth in the inner city. There is value in our rural areas. If i am president of the United States were going to have a fair just taxation where millionaires and billin airs pay their fair share, but dear god were going to have pathways to prosperity for more americans. Were going to see a change in what we see right now. Small businesses, new startups are going down in this country. Just your last thoughts. So the idea what is fair, today the 99 in america are on track to pay about 7. 2 of their total wealth in taxes. The top one tenth of 1 that i want to say pay 2 cents more, theyll pay 3 more in america. Im tired of free loading billionaires. I think its time we ask those at the very top to pay more so every single one of your children everybodys tired of corporations getting paying zero taxes. Im not disagreeing with that. Mayor buttigieg you have said, quote, i will never allow us to get so wrapped up in the fighting we start to think fighting is the point. The Republican Party never stopped fighting president obama in his eight years in office. So what would you do that president obama didnt do to change that . As president obama commented recently, we are now in a different reality that we were even 12 years ago. And to me the extraordinary potential of the moment were in right now is that there is an american majority that stands ready to tackle big issues. That didnt exist in the same way even a few years ago. Even on issues where democrats have been on defense like immigration and guns, we have a majority to do the right thing. If we can galvanize not polarize that majority. For example, on health care the reason i insist on medicare for all who want it as the strategy to deliver on that goal we share of universal health care is that that is something that as a guverening strategy we can unify the American People around. Creating a version of medicare, making it available to anyone who wants it, but without the divisive step of ordering people onto it whether they want to or not. And i believe that commanding people to accept that option, whether we wait three years as senator warren has proposed or whether you do it right out of the gate is not the right approach to unify the American People around a very, very big transformation that we now have an opportunity to deliver. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Kristen welker. Lets talk about medicare for all. Senator warren you are running on medicare for all. Democrats have been winning elections even in red states with a very different message on health care. Protecting obamacare, democrats are divided on this issue. What do you say to voters who are worried that your position on medicare for all could cost you critical votes in the general election . So i look out and i see ten of millions of americans struggling to pay their medical bills. 37 Million People who decided not not to have a prescription filled because they cant afford it. People who decided not to have the doctor test beca