MSNBC & Washington Post Democratic Debate (Full Length) - November 20, 2019 — MSNBC

[0:01] we're in a battle for the soul of america we're ready to build this majority we need big ideas [0:11] we are in this together time for us to remember who we are this is a fight that is born out of [0:20] optimism it's also about how we govern because we are one america i'm talking about changing [0:28] washington to restore the principles of integrity let's show them what we've got let's show them what [0:34] humanity can do the msnbc washington post democratic presidential debate live from atlanta georgia [0:46] and the tyler perry studios here is rachel matt post democratic candidates debate some of us are [1:09] very very natural matter in atlanta georgia tonight with my fellow moderators andrea mitchell is nbc [1:16] news chief foreign affairs correspondent and the host of andrea mitchell reports on msnbc [1:21] ashley parker is white house reporter for the washington post and kristen welker is nbc news [1:26] white house correspondent we'll be covering a wide range of topics tonight including national [1:31] security race and climate each candidate will have one minute and 15 seconds to answer our questions [1:38] and 45 seconds if we need to follow up and we ask the audience to respect the candidates and please [1:44] don't interrupt there's 10 candidates here tonight no time to waste let's get right to it we're in the [1:51] middle of the fourth presidential impeachment proceedings in our nation's history ambassador [1:58] gordon sondland delivered testimony today in the house impeachment inquiry that buttress the case [2:03] that president trump withheld military aid to ukraine and a white house meeting with president zelensky [2:09] because he wanted the ukrainian president to announce investigations that would benefit president trump [2:14] politically senator warren you have said already that you've seen enough to convict the president [2:20] and remove him from office you and four of your colleagues on this stage tonight who are also u.s [2:25] senators may soon have to take that vote will you try to convince your republican colleagues in the senate [2:32] to vote the same way and if so how uh of course i will and the obvious answer is to say first read the [2:39] Mueller report all 442 pages of it that showed how the president tried to obstruct justice and when [2:46] congress failed to act at that moment it meant the president felt free to break the law again and [2:51] again and again and that's what's happened with ukraine we have to establish the principle no one is [2:57] above the law we have a constitutional responsibility and we need to meet it but i want to add one more [3:03] part based on today's testimony and that is how did ambassador suddland get there you know this is not a [3:09] man who had any qualifications except one he wrote a check for a million dollars and that tells us [3:16] about what's happening in washington the corruption how money buys its way into washington you know i [3:23] raised this months ago about the whole notion that donors think they're going to get ambassadorships [3:29] on the other side and i've taken a pledge anyone who wants to give me a big donation don't ask to be [3:35] an ambassador because i'm not going to have that happen i asked everyone who's running for president [3:41] to join me in that and not a single person has so far i hope what we saw today during the testimony [3:48] means lots of people will sign on and say we are not going to give away these ambassador posts to the [3:54] highest bidder senator warren thank you senator klobuchar you've said that you support the [3:58] impeachment inquiry but you want to wait for a senate trial to hear the evidence and make a [4:03] decision about convicting the president after the bombshell testimony of ambassador sondland today [4:09] has that view changed for you i have made it very clear that this is impeachable conduct and i've [4:15] called for an impeachment proceeding i just believe our job as jurors is to look at each count and make a [4:21] decision but let me make very clear that what this impeachment proceeding about is really our democracy [4:30] at stake this is a president that not only with regard to his conduct with ukraine but every step of [4:38] the way puts his own private interests his own partisan interests his own political interests in front of [4:45] our country's interest and this is wrong this is a pattern with this man and it goes to everything [4:52] from how he has betrayed our farmers and our workers uh to what he has done with foreign affairs [4:58] leaving the kurds for slaughter um sucking up to vladimir putin every minute of the day that is what [5:06] this guy does and i think it is very very important that we have a president that's going to put our [5:11] country first i was thinking about this uh when i was at the carter presidential museum and on the [5:18] wall or at the words of walter mondale when he looked back at their four years not perfect and [5:23] he said this we told the truth we obeyed the law we kept the peace we told the truth we obeyed the law [5:30] we kept the peace that is the minimum that we should expect in a president of the united states [5:35] senator thank you senator sanders i'd like to go to you americans are watching these impeachment [5:40] hearings at the same time they're also focused on their more immediate daily economic and family [5:46] concerns how central should the president's conduct uncovered by this impeachment inquiry [5:52] be to any democratic nominees campaign for president how central would it be to yours well rachel uh [5:58] sadly we have a president who is not only a pathological liar he is likely the most corrupt [6:05] uh president in the modern history of america but we cannot simply be consumed by donald trump [6:13] because if we are you know what we're going to lose the election right now you've got 87 million [6:18] people who have no health insurance or underinsured we're facing the great existential crisis of our [6:25] time in terms of climate change you've got 500,000 people sleeping out on the street and you've got 18 [6:31] million people paying half of their limited incomes for housing what the american people understand is [6:37] that the congress can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time in other words we can deal with [6:45] trump's corruption but we also have to stand up for the working families of this country we also have to [6:52] stand up to the fact that our political system is corrupt dominated by a handful of billionaires [6:58] and that our economy is rigged with three people owning more wealth than the bottom half of america [7:05] we can do it all when we rally the american people in the cause of justice mayor buddha judge let [7:11] me put the same question to you how central should the president's conduct uncovered by the impeachment [7:16] inquiry be to a democratic nominee's campaign how central would it be to yours well the constitutional [7:22] process of impeachment should be beyond politics and it is not a part of the campaign but the president's [7:29] conduct is the impeachable conduct that we have seen in the abuse of power that we're learning [7:34] more about in the investigations but just to be clear the president's already confessed to it on [7:40] television but that's just part of what we've seen under normal circumstances the president would [7:45] leave office after something that was revealed recently that barely got any attention at all which [7:50] was the president had to confess in writing in court to illegally diverting charitable contributions [7:57] that were supposed to go to veterans we are absolutely going to confront this president for [8:02] his wrongdoing but we are also each running to be the president who will lead this country after [8:07] the trump presidency comes to an end one way or the other i'm running to be the president for that day [8:13] the sun comes up and the trump presidency is behind us which will be a tender moment in the life of this [8:19] country and we are going to have to unify a nation that will be as divided as ever and while doing it [8:25] address big issues that didn't take a vacation for the impeachment process or for the trump presidency [8:31] as a whole a climate approaching the point of no return the fact that we've still got to act on [8:36] health care kids learning active shooter drills before they learn to read and an economy where even [8:41] when the dow jones is looking good far too many americans have to fight like hell just to hold on to [8:47] what they've got mr those are the crises that will be awaiting the next president and will be at the [8:51] heart of our campaign mr mayor thank you andrew vice president biden you've suggested in your [8:56] campaign that if you defeat president trump republicans will start working with democrats again but right [9:02] now republicans in congress including some of whom you've worked with for decades are demanding [9:07] investigations not only of you but also of your son how would you get those same republicans to work [9:13] with you well look the next president united states can have to do think do two things [9:18] defeat donald trump that's number one and number two is going to have to make be able to go into [9:26] states like georgia and north carolina and other places and get a senate majority that's what i'll do [9:33] you have to ask yourself up here who is most likely to be able to win the nomination in the first [9:38] place to win the presidency in the first place and secondly who is most likely to increase the [9:43] number of people who are democrats in the house and in the senate and by the way i learned something [9:49] about these impeachment trials i learned number one that donald trump doesn't want me to be the [9:54] nominee that's pretty clear he held up aid to make sure that while at the same time innocent people [10:01] in the donbas are getting killed by russian soldiers secondly i found out that vladimir putin doesn't [10:06] want me to be president so i i've learned a lot about these things early on from these hearings that [10:12] we have they're being held but the bottom line is i think we have to ask ourselves the honest question [10:18] who is most likely to do what needs to be done produce a democratic majority in the united states [10:24] senate maintain the house and beat trump senator harris your thoughts about that well first of all we [10:32] have a criminal living in the white house and there is no question that in 2020 the biggest issue [10:38] before us until we get to that tender moment is justice is on the ballot and what we saw today [10:45] is ambassador sondland by his own words told us that everyone was in the loop that means it is a [10:52] criminal enterprise engaged in by the president from what we heard today the vice president the [10:59] secretary of state and the chief of staff and so this not only points to the corrupt nature of [11:05] this administration and the need for these impeachment proceedings to go forward but it also points [11:10] to another issue and back to the question that you asked earlier which is what does this mean for [11:15] the american people because what it means when i watch this is that there are clearly two different [11:21] set of rules for two different groups of people in america the powerful people who with their [11:26] arrogance think they can get away with this and then everybody else because here's the thing for [11:31] those working people who are working two or three jobs if they don't pay that credit card by the end [11:36] of the month they get a penalty for the people who don't pay their rent they get evicted for the [11:41] people who shoplift they go to jail we need the same set of rules for everybody and part of the reason [11:47] i'm running for president is to say that we have to bring justice back to america for all people and not just [11:53] for some thank you senator senator warren you have cast yourself as a fighter if you were elected though [12:00] you would be walking into an existing fight a country that is already very divided over the trump [12:06] presidency among other things do you see that divide as permanent or do you need to bring the [12:11] country together if you become president to achieve your goals so i think the way we achieve our goals [12:17] and bring our country together as we talk about the things that unite us and that is that we want to [12:23] build an america that works for the people not one that just works for rich folks you know i have [12:28] proposed a two cent wealth tax that is a tax for everybody who has more than 50 billion dollars [12:35] in assets your first 50 billion is free and clear but your 50 billionth and first dollar you got to [12:40] pitch in two cents and when you hit a billion dollars you got to pitch in a few pennies more here's the [12:45] thing doing a wealth tax is not about punishing anyone it's about saying you built something great [12:51] in this country good for you but you did it using workers all of us help pay to educate you did it [12:57] using your getting your goods to on roads and bridges all of us help pay for you did it protected by [13:03] police and firefighters all of us help pay the salaries for so when you make it big when you make it really [13:09] really big when you make up top one tenth of one percent big pitch in two cents so everybody else gets [13:16] a chance to make it and here's the thing that's something that democrats care about [13:20] independence care about and republicans care about because regardless of party affiliation [13:27] people understand across this country our government is working better and better for the [13:31] billionaires for the rich for the well-connected and worse and worse for everyone else we come together [13:37] when we acknowledge that and say we're going to make real change thank you senator booker do you [13:41] agree with that strategy well first of all i think we all agree that we need to bring in a lot [13:46] more revenue in this country we actually have a real problem with the tax rates tax loopholes [13:51] tax cheats and i don't agree with the wealth tax the way that elizabeth warren puts it [13:58] but i agree that we need to raise the estate tax we need to tax capital gains as ordinary income real [14:04] strategies will increase revenue but here's a challenge we as democrats need to fight for a just [14:09] taxation system but as i travel around the country we democrats also have to talk about how to grow [14:14] wealth as well when i stood in church recently and asked folks in the black church how many people [14:21] here want to be entrepreneurs half the church raised their hands if we as a country don't start if we [14:26] have a party don't start talking not just about how to tax wealth but have give more people opportunities [14:31] to create wealth to grow businesses to have their american dream because yeah we need to raise the [14:37] minimum wage to a living wage 15 an hour but the people in communities i frequent they're not [14:43] aspiration for their lives is not just to have those fair wages they want to have an economy that [14:48] provides not just equalities in wealth but they want to have equalities of opportunity and that's [14:52] what our party has to be about as well senator warren you wanted to respond sure so let me just tell [14:58] you what we can do with that two cent wealth tax two cents on the top one tenth of one percent in this [15:05] country and we can provide universal child care for every baby in this country age zero to five [15:11] that is transformative we can provide universal pre-k for every three-year-old and four-year-old in [15:16] america we can stop exploiting the women largely black and brown women who do this work and we can raise [15:23] the wages of every child care worker and preschool teacher in america we can put 800 billion new [15:29] federal dollars into all of our public schools we can make college tuition free for every kid we can [15:36] put 50 billion dollars into historically black colleges and universities and we can cancel student loan [15:43] debt for 95 percent of the folks who've got it two cent wealth tax and we can invest in an entire [15:49] generation future senator booker respond sure you know again i agree with the need to do all of those [15:55] things we're all united in wanting to see universal preschool and i'll fight for that we're all united [16:01] in wanting to fund hbcus heck i wouldn't be here if it wasn't for two parents that went to hbcus but [16:07] the tax the way we're putting it forward right now the wealth tax i'm sorry it's cumbersome it's been [16:11] tried by other nations it's hard to evaluate we can get the same amount of revenue through just taxation [16:16] but again we as democrats have got to start talking not just about how we tax from a stage [16:22] but how we grow wealth in this country amongst those disadvantaged communities that are not seeing [16:27] it look at vc dollars in this country 75 percent of them go to three metropolitan areas [16:33] there is worth in the inner city there is value in our rural areas if i am president united states [16:38] we're going to have a fair just taxation where millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share [16:42] but dear god we're going to have pathways to prosperity for more americans we're going to see [16:48] a change in what we see right now small businesses new new startups are going down in this country [16:53] thank you senator warren new entrepreneurs just your last thoughts i just the idea behind what is fair [17:01] today the 99 percent in america are on track to pay about 7.2 percent of their total wealth and taxes [17:09] i'm not disagreeing with that the top one-tenth of one percent that i want to say pay two cents more [17:14] they'll pay 3.2 percent in america i'm tired of freeloading billionaires i think it's time that we [17:21] ask those at the very top to pay more so that every single one of our children gets everybody's [17:27] everybody's tired of the corporations getting away with paying zero taxes we're not disagreeing with [17:33] that thank you very much senator warren thank you senator mayor butta judge you have said quote [17:38] i will never allow us to get so wrapped up in the fighting that we start to think fighting is the [17:42] point the republican party never stopped fighting president obama in his eight years [17:47] in office so what would you do that president obama didn't do to change that well as president [17:52] obama commented recently we are now in a different reality than we were even 12 years ago and to me [17:59] the extraordinary potential of the moment we're in right now is that there is an american majority that [18:04] stands ready to tackle big issues that didn't exist in the same way even a few years ago even on [18:10] issues where democrats have been on defense like immigration and guns we have a majority to do the [18:16] right thing if we can galvanize not polarize that majority for example on health care the reason i [18:23] insist on medicare for all who want it as the strategy to deliver on that goal we share of universal [18:30] health care is that that is something that as a governing strategy we can unify the american people [18:35] around creating a version of medicare making it available to anybody who wants it but without the [18:41] divisive step of ordering people onto it whether they want to or not and i believe that commanding [18:48] people to accept that option whether we wait three years as senator warren has proposed or whether you [18:54] do it right out of the gate is not the right approach to unify the american people around a very very [19:00] big transformation that we now have an opportunity to deliver thank you mr mayor christian welcome [19:06] let's talk about medicare for all senator warren you are running on medicare for all democrats have [19:11] been winning elections even in red states with a very different message on health care protecting [19:17] obama care democrats are divided on this issue what do you say to voters who are worried that your [19:23] position on medicare for all could cost you critical votes in the general election so i look out and i see [19:29] tens of millions of americans who are struggling to pay their medical bills 37 million people who [19:35] decided not to have a prescription filled because they just can't afford it people who didn't take the [19:39] tests the doctor recommended because they just can't afford it so here is my plan let's bring as many [19:45] people in and get as much help to the american people as we can as fast as we can on day one as [19:52] president i will do uh bring down the cost of prescription drugs on things like insulin and epi pens [20:00] that's going to save tens of millions hundreds of millions of dollars for people i'm going to defend [20:05] the affordable care act from the sabotage of the trump administration and in the first hundred days i'm [20:11] going to bring in 135 million people into medicare for all at no cost to them everybody under the age of [20:20] 18 everybody who has a family of four income less than fifty thousand dollars i'm going to lower [20:26] the age of medicare to 50 and expand medicare coverage to include vision and dental and long-term [20:35] care and then in the third year when people have had a chance to feel it and taste it and live with [20:41] it we're going to vote and we're going to want medicare for all senator thank you senator senator [20:46] sanders let me bring you into this conversation thank you i wrote the damn bill [20:52] well i want to ask you the question this way senator sanders you describe your campaign [20:57] including your plans for medicare for all as a political revolution yes president obama [21:02] explicitly said the country is quote less revolutionary than it is interested in [21:06] improvement the average american doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system and [21:11] remake it end quote is president obama wrong no he's right we don't have to tear down the system [21:17] but we do have to do what the american people want and the american people understand today that the [21:24] current health care system is not only cruel it is dysfunctional now you tell me how we have a [21:31] system in which we spend twice as much as do the people of any other country and yet we got 87 million [21:40] uninsured underinsured in some cases we pay 10 times more for prescription drugs as do the people [21:48] of canada or other countries 500 000 people go bankrupt because of medically related issues they come down [21:58] with cancer and that's a reason to go bankrupt now some of the people up here think that we should not [22:04] take on the insurance industry we should not take on the pharmaceutical industry but you know what [22:11] if you think back to fdr and if you think back to jfk and harry truman and barack obama as a matter of [22:18] fact people have been talking about health care for all well you know what i think now is the time [22:25] and in the first week of my administration we will introduce medicare for all medicare for all that [22:31] means no deductibles no copayments no out-of-pocket expenses that's where we got to go thank you [22:37] senator sanders vice president biden you know we can do this without charging people raising 30 40 trillion [22:46] dollars the fact is that right now the vast majority of democrats do not support medicare for all it [22:53] couldn't pass the united states senate right now with democrats it couldn't pass the house nancy pelosi [23:01] is one of those people who then thinks makes sense we should build on obamacare provide the plan i put [23:06] forward before anybody in here adding a medicare option in that plan and not make people choose [23:15] allow people to choose i should say but if you go the route of my two friends on my right and my left [23:19] you have to give up your private insurance 160 million people like their private insurance and [23:25] if they don't like it they can buy into a medicare like proposal in my plan drug prices go down [23:32] premiums go down across the board but here's the deal they get to choose i trust the american people [23:39] to make a judgment what they believe is in their interest and not demand of them what the insurance [23:44] companies they want no no competition and my friends say you have to only go medicare for all [23:52] vice president biden thank you ashley congresswoman gabbard you have criticized hillary clinton as the [23:57] quote personification of the rot that has sickened the democratic party what is the right you see in [24:04] the democratic party that our democratic party unfortunately is not the party that is of by and for [24:11] the people it's a part it is a party that has been and continues to be influenced by the foreign policy [24:18] establishment in washington represented by hillary clinton and others foreign policy by the military [24:24] industrial complex and other greedy corporate interests i'm running for president to be the [24:29] democratic nominee that rebuilds our democratic party takes it out of their hands and truly puts it in [24:36] the hands of the people of this country a party that actually hears the voices of americans who are [24:42] struggling all across this country and puts it in the hands of veterans and fellow americans who are [24:48] calling for an end to this ongoing bush clinton trump foreign policy doctrine of regime change wars [24:56] overthrowing dictators in other countries needlessly sending my brothers and sisters in uniform [25:02] into harm's way to fight in wars that actually undermine our national security and have cost us [25:08] thousands of american lives these are wars that have cost us as american taxpayers trillions of dollars [25:16] since 9 11 alone dollars that have come out of our pockets out of our hospitals out of our schools [25:21] out of our infrastructure needs as president i will end this foreign policy and these regime change wars [25:28] work to end this new cold war in arms race and instead invest our hard-earned taxpayer dollars [25:34] actually into serving the needs of the american people thank you congresswoman right here at home [25:38] senator harris any response oh sure [25:45] um i i think that um it's unfortunate that we have someone on the stage who is attempting to be the [25:52] democratic nominee for president of the united states who during the obama administration spent four [25:57] years full-time on fox news criticizing president obama who has spent full time who has spent full [26:03] time who has spent full time criticizing people on this stage as affiliated with the democratic party [26:10] when donald trump was elected not even sworn in buddied up to steve bannon to get a meeting with [26:17] donald trump in the trump tower fails to call a war criminal by what he is as a war criminal and then [26:26] spends full time during the course of this campaign again criticizing the democratic party what we need [26:32] on the stage on in november is someone who has the ability to win and by that we need someone on [26:40] that stage who has the ability to go toe-to-toe with donald trump and someone who has the ability to [26:45] rebuild the obama coalition and bring the party and the nation together i believe i am that candidate [26:52] thank you senator congresswoman gabbard i'll give you a chance to respond what senator harris is doing [26:58] is unfortunately continuing to traffic in lies and smears and innuendos because she cannot challenge [27:06] the substance of the argument that i'm making the leadership and the change that i'm seeking to bring [27:11] in our foreign policy which only makes me guess that she will as president continue the status quo continue [27:19] the bush-clinton-trump foreign policy of regime change wars which is is deeply destructive this [27:26] is personal to me because i served in iraq i left my seat in the state legislature in hawaii [27:32] volunteered to deploy to iraq where i served in a medical unit where every single day i saw the [27:37] terribly high human cost of war i take very seriously the responsibility that the president has to serve [27:44] as commander-in-chief to lead our armed forces and to make sure always no i'm not going to put party [27:50] interests first i will put the thank you thank you congresswoman i want to i want to briefly give [27:55] senator harris a final second to respond i believe that uh what our nation needs right now is a nominee [28:04] who can speak to all people i spent my entire career standing mostly in a courtroom speaking five words [28:12] kamala harris for the people and it was about all the people regardless of their race regardless of [28:18] their gender regardless of where they live geographically regardless of the party with [28:21] which they're registered to vote or the language their grandmother speaks we need someone on this [28:26] debate stage in november who has the ability to unify the country and to win the election and i [28:32] believe again i am that candidate thank you senator thank you mr steyer you have denounced the special [28:37] interest that pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the political process to influence it but in [28:43] fact you have spent over 300 million dollars of your own money in support of your political goals [28:49] how do you respond to critics who see you as the embodiment of a special interest what i've done over [28:56] the last decade is to put together coalitions of ordinary american citizens to take on unchecked corporate [29:05] power we have a broken government in washington dc it's been purchased by corporations over the last [29:12] decade with the help of the american people we have taken on and beaten the oil companies we have [29:18] taken on and beaten the tobacco companies we have taken on and beaten the tobacco companies we have taken on [29:21] and beaten utilities we've taken on and beaten the drug companies i've also built one of the largest [29:28] grassroots organizations in the united states last year next gen america did the largest youth voter [29:35] mobilization in american history i also in partnership with seven national unions knocked [29:41] on 15 million doors in 2016 and 10 million in 2018 what i've done is to try to push power down to [29:49] the american people to take power away from the corporations who've bought our government and i'm [29:55] talking now about structural reform in washington d.c term limits if you want bold change in the united [30:02] states you're going to have to have new and different people in charge i'm the only person [30:07] on this stage who will talk about term limits vice president biden won't senator sanders won't even [30:13] mayor pete buddhage will not talk about term limits and structural change i would let the american [30:18] people pass laws themselves through direct democracy it's time to push the power back to the people [30:25] and away from dc mr steyer thank you senator klobuchar a brief response well i just i'm someone that comes [30:31] uh it doesn't come from money and i appreciate the work of mr steyer but right now we have a system [30:37] that's not fair and it's not just fair for money and so what i would do is start a constitutional [30:42] amendment and pass it to overturn citizens united that's what we should do so that we stop this dark [30:48] money and outside money from coming into our politics i have led the way on voting and i can [30:55] tell you right now one solution that would make a huge difference in this state would be allow every [31:00] kid in the country to register to vote when they turn 18 if we had a system like this and we did [31:06] something about gerrymandering and we stopped the voting purges and we did something significant [31:12] um about making sure we don't have money in politics from the outside stacy abrams would be governor of [31:18] this state right now thank you that's what should have happened so all i appreciate his work i am [31:23] someone that doesn't come from money i see my husband out there my first senate race i literally [31:27] called everyone i knew and i said what is still an all-time senate record i raised seventeen thousand [31:32] dollars from ex-boyfriends and i'd like to point out it is not an expanding base so i don't just [31:39] think this with my head i feel it in my heart thank you senator klobuchar mr yang i want to bring you [31:44] it mr yang sure thank you mr yang you've made a virtue of your outsider status you've never served [31:52] in the military or in government what has prepared you to respond to a terrorist attack or a major [31:57] disaster well first i just want to stick up for tom we have a broken campaign finance system but tom's [32:03] been spending his own money fighting climate change you can't knock someone for having money and spending [32:07] it in the right way my opinion thanks andrew no problem as commander-in-chief i think we need to [32:17] be focused on the real threats of the 21st century and what are those threats climate change artificial [32:23] intelligence loose nuclear material military drones and non-state actors and if you look up we're in the [32:31] process of potentially losing the ai arms race to china right now because they have more access to more [32:37] data than we do and their government is putting billions of dollars to work subsidizing the [32:42] development of ai in a way that we are not we are 24 years behind on technology and i can say that [32:48] with authority because we got rid of the office of technology assessment in 1995 think about that [32:53] timing i guess they thought they'd invented everything the next commander-in-chief has to be focused [32:59] on the true threats of tomorrow and that's what i'll bring to the table as commander-in-chief thank [33:05] you mr yang andrea mayor butta judge let's talk about your record as a candidate you were elected mayor [33:12] in a democratic city receiving just under 11 000 votes and in your only in your only statewide race [33:20] you lost by 25 points why should democrats take the risk of betting on you because i have the right [33:26] experience to take on donald trump i get that it's not traditional establishment washington experience [33:33] but i would argue we need something very different right now in order to defeat this president [33:39] we need somebody who can go toe to toe who actually comes from the kinds of communities that [33:44] he's been appealing to i don't talk a big game about helping the working class while helicoptering [33:50] between golf courses with my name on them i don't even golf as a matter of fact i never thought i'd be [33:57] on a forbes magazine list but uh they did one of all the candidates by wealth and i am literally [34:02] the least wealthy person on this stage i also wore the uniform of this country and know what is at stake [34:08] in the decisions that are made in the oval office in the situation room and i know how to bring people [34:13] together to get things done i know that from the perspective of washington what goes on in my city might [34:19] look small but frankly where we live the infighting on capitol hill is what looks small the usual way [34:25] of doing business in washington is what looks small and i believe we need to send somebody in [34:30] who has a different kind of experience the experience on the ground solving problems working side [34:36] by side with neighbors on some of the toughest issues that come up in government recognizing what is [34:42] required of executive leadership and bringing that to washington so that washington can start [34:47] looking a little more like our best-run communities in the heartland before the other way around [34:52] starts to happen thank you mayor senator klobuchar you said this of mayor buddha judge quote of the [34:57] women on the stage do i think that we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience he had [35:03] no i don't maybe we're held to a different standard senator what did you mean by that first of all [35:11] i've made very clear i think that pete is qualified to be up on this stage and i am honored to be [35:16] standing next to him but what i said was true women are held to a higher standard otherwise we could [35:23] play a game called name your favorite woman president which we can't do because it has all been [35:30] men including all vice presidents being men and i think any working woman out there any woman at [35:37] home knows exactly what i mean we have to work harder and that's a fact but i want to dispel one [35:43] thing because for so long why has this been happening i don't think you have to be the tallest [35:48] person on this stage to be president i don't think you have to be the skinniest person i don't [35:53] think you have the loudest voice on the stage i don't think that means that you will be the one [35:57] that should be president i think what matters is if you're smart if you're competent and if you get [36:03] things done i am the one that has passed over a hundred bills as the lead democrat in that gridlock of [36:09] washington in congress on this stage i think you've got to win and i am the one mr vice president [36:16] that has been able to win every red and purple congressional district as the lead on a ticket [36:22] every time i govern both with my head and my heart and if you think a woman can't beat donald trump [36:29] nancy pelosi does it every single day mr vice president mr vice president just a quick response [36:38] i think a woman's qualified to be president there's no reason why if you think the woman's [36:43] most qualified person now you should vote for them the reason why i think i should be president [36:47] and be the nominee is number one i have brought people together my entire career in the united [36:54] states senate i've passed more major legislation than everybody on this stage combined from the [36:58] violence against women act to making sure we have the chemical weapons treaty to dealing with [37:05] the whole range of things that i've been engaged in my whole career i've done it i've brought people [37:10] together i'm always told by everybody on here things have changed you can't do that anymore if [37:15] we can't i thought the question was initially asked of the senator how do you unify this country [37:20] we have to unify this country i have done it i have done it repeatedly and lastly to be commander-in-chief [37:27] there's no time for on-the-job training i've spent more time in the situation room more time [37:31] abroad more time than anybody up here i know every major world leader they know me and they know when [37:36] i speak if i'm the president united states who we're for who we're against and what we'll do and [37:41] we'll keep our word thank you thank you mr vice president ashley senator booker one of the defining [37:47] characteristics of the trump presidency is that the american people hear from him directly all the time [37:53] about everything on twitter and just about everywhere else setting aside your views of his tone [37:59] is that unfiltered communication something you as president would continue is this one of the [38:04] norms broken by president trump that needed to change so look who this president has broken norms [38:11] as you've said he uses platforms to demean degrade and divide this country in ways that are repugnant [38:18] and appalling but the next president whoever they are is going to have to be someone who can heal [38:25] and bring this nation together this whole nation so absolutely in that office i will do whatever it [38:32] takes to make sure we bring this country together but it's not for a kumbaya moment we are a nation [38:39] that achieves great things when we stand together and work together and fight together so absolutely [38:46] when i was mayor of the largest city in my state and this is where i agree with mayor pete mayoral [38:52] experience is very important and i happen to be the other road scholar mayor on this stage [39:00] and what i learned there is that you have to be an executive that can heal in my city we have [39:07] racial divides we have geographic divides that go from wealth to people that are struggling the [39:13] success of my city was because we brought us all together and did things that other people said [39:18] could not be done when i am president united states my campaign from the very beginning has not [39:24] changed my charge is to see a nation right now which has so much common pain to channel that back [39:30] into a sense of common purpose and i will do whatever it takes bringing creativity to that office [39:35] like has never been seen before thank you senator rachel chants of lock her up are still heard at [39:43] president trump's rallies today now some opponents of the president are turning the same slogan against [39:49] him they've chanted lock him up at a recent world series game in washington and at a veterans day event in [39:56] new york and senator sanders at at least two of your campaign events recently senator should democrats [40:04] discourage this or are you okay with it well i think the people of this country are catching on [40:15] to the degree that this president thinks he is above the law and what the american people are saying [40:23] nobody is above the law and i think what the american people are also saying is in fact that if this [40:32] president did break the law he should be prosecuted like any other individual who breaks the law but at [40:40] the end of the day what we need to do is to bring our people together not just in opposition to trump [40:50] the initial question i think that you wrote that somebody raised here was that we are a divided nation [40:56] you know what i kind of reject that i think when you talk about the pain of working families in this [41:02] country majority of the american people want to raise the minimum wage to a living wage when you talk [41:08] about the climate crisis the overwhelming majority of the american people know that it is real they [41:14] know we have to take on the fossil fuel industry they know we have to transform our energy system [41:20] away from fossil fuel energy efficiency and sustainable energy even on issues like guns the american [41:27] people are coming together to end the horrific level of gun violence so i believe yeah we got to deal with [41:34] trump but we also have to have an agenda that brings our people together so that the wealth and income [41:40] doesn't just go to the people on top but to all of us vice president let me ask you to pick up on [41:45] the issue that senator sanders just raised about no one being above the law when president ford [41:50] pardoned president nixon he said it was to heal the country would you support a potential criminal [41:57] investigation into president trump after he leaves office even if you thought it might further inflame the [42:02] country's divisions look i would not direct my justice department like this president does i'd let [42:08] them make their independent judgment i would not dictate who should be prosecuted or who should be [42:15] exonerated that's not the role of the president of the united states it's the attorney general of [42:20] the united states not the president's attorney private attorney and so i would whatever was determined [42:27] by the attorney general i supported that i appointed let them make an independent judgment if that was [42:34] the judgment that he violated the law and he should be in fact criminally prosecuted then so be it but [42:41] i would not direct it and i don't think it's a good idea that we mock that we that we model ourselves [42:47] after trump and say lock him up look we have to bring this country together let's start talking civilly to [42:54] people and treating you know the next president who starts tweeting should anyway it just we look [43:03] it's about civility we have to restore the soul of this country and that's not who we are that's not [43:09] who we've been that's not who we should be follow the law let the justice department make the judgment [43:16] as to whether or not someone should be prosecuted period senator sanders let me ask you briefly to [43:21] respond to that the difference of your opinion of opinion there with vice president biden well no i [43:24] think uh joe is right uh i think that it is the function of the attorney general but what i am of the [43:32] opinion is that the american people now do believe and the more they see these uh impeachment hearings [43:38] on television they do believe that we have a president who thinks he's above the law we have a [43:43] president who is engaged in corruption we have a president who has obstructed justice and in my view [43:50] somebody who has violated the emoluments clause i think joe is right that is the function of an [43:55] independent department of justice but my inclination is that the american people do believe that this [44:01] president is in violation of the law so can i respond very quickly briefly so [44:06] distinction should he be impeached and should he be thrown out of office that's one question he's very [44:12] close to him p he's indicted himself number two after he's thrown out of office or after he's defeated [44:18] should he be then prosecuted should he be prosecuted for a criminal offense while he was president [44:24] that's a judgment to be made by an attorney general mr vice president thank you ashley we now focus [44:29] on an issue facing many americans child care and paid family leave here in georgia the average price [44:35] of infant daycare can be as much as eighty five hundred dollars per child per year that's more [44:41] than in-state tuition at a four-year public college in georgia mr yang what would you do as president to [44:47] ease that financial burden there are only two countries in the world that don't have paid family [44:52] leave for new moms the united states of america and papua and new guinea that is the entire list and [44:58] we need to get off this list as soon as possible i would pass paid family leave as one of the first [45:03] things we do i have two kids myself who are four and seven one of whom is autistic and has special [45:08] needs and it's breaking families backs we need to start supporting our kids and families from the [45:15] beginning because by the time they're showing up to pre-k and kindergarten in many cases they're already [45:21] years behind studies have shown that two-thirds of our kids educational outcomes are determined by what's [45:28] happening to them at home this is stress levels number of words read to them as children type of [45:34] neighborhood whether a parent has time to spend with them so we need to have a freedom dividend in [45:39] place from day one a thousand dollars a month for every american adult which would put in many cases [45:45] two thousand dollars a month into family's pockets so that they can either pay for child care or if they [45:51] want stay home with the child we should not be pushing everyone to leave the home and go to the [45:57] workforce many parents see that trade-off and say if they leave the home and work they're going to be [46:02] spending all the money on child care anyway in many cases it'd be better if the parent stays home with [46:05] the child thank you mr yang sticking with this topic no parent in the united states is federally [46:11] guaranteed a single day of paid leave when they have a new baby a number of you on stage tonight have [46:17] plans to address this senator harris you're one of the candidates proposing legislation to guarantee up to [46:23] six months of paid family leave and senator klobuchar you're one of the candidates proposing up to three [46:28] months i want to hear from both of you on this starting with you senator klobuchar why three months [46:34] i looked at this economically and i want to make sure that we help people because as just pointed out [46:40] we are way behind the curve our country is when it comes to providing paid family leave and child [46:45] care we must do this and we will do this if we have the right person heading up the ticket so we can win [46:51] big but what i have done with all of my plans is i have showed how i'm going to pay for them [46:57] meticulously i think that is really really important when we have a president in the white house right [47:02] now who have told over 10 000 lies so when you look at my website at amy klobuchar.com you will see my [47:10] plans and you're also going to see how i'm going to pay for it and i think that is so important because [47:17] this president is literally increasing the debt treating our farmers and workers like poker chips [47:24] in a bankrupt casino and really putting this country in a worse financial situation every single day [47:30] so yes my plan is three months i think that's good i'd love to do more as i've said before i'd love to [47:36] staple free diplomas under people's chairs i just am not going to go for things and this is not i'm not [47:42] talking about senator harris's plan here but i'm talking about some of the other ideas that have [47:47] been out here i am not going to go for things just because they sound good on a bumper sticker and [47:52] then throw in a free car i think that we have an obligation we have an obligation as a party to be [47:59] yes fiscally responsible yes think big but make sure we have people's backs and are honest with them [48:06] about what we can pay for and that is everything from sending rich kids to college for free which i don't [48:11] support um to kicking 149 million off their health insurance current health insurance in four years [48:17] i just think we have to be smart about how we thank you senator and senator harris why six months and [48:23] also how would you pay for that sure and everybody please visit my website kamilaharris.org for the [48:29] details on everything i talk about um six months so part of how i believe we're going to win this [48:35] election is it is going to be because we are focused on the future we are focused on the [48:40] challenges that that are presented today and not trying to bring back yesterday to solve tomorrow [48:46] so on paid family leave it is no longer the case in america that people are having children in their [48:51] 20s people are having children in their 30s often in their 40s which means that these families and [48:58] parents are often raising young children and taking care of their parents which requires a lot of work [49:06] from traveling back and forth to a hospital to daycare to all of the activities that are required much [49:11] less the health care needs that are required and what we are seeing in america today is the burden [49:16] principally falls on women to do that work and many women are having to make a very difficult choice [49:23] whether they're going to leave a profession for which they have a passion to care for their family [49:28] or whether they are going to give up a paycheck that is part of what that family relies on [49:32] so six months paid family leave is meant to and is designed to adjust to the reality of women's lives [49:39] today the reality also is that women are not paid equal for equal work in america we passed the equal [49:45] pay act in 1963 but fast forward to the year of our lord 2019 and women are paid 80 cents on the dollar [49:52] black women 61 cents native american women 58 cents latinas 53 cents so but so my policy is about there's a [50:01] whole collection of work that i am doing that is focused on women and working women in america and [50:06] the inequities and therefore the injustice that women in america are facing that needs to be resolved [50:11] and addressed thank you senator kristen mr steyer millions of working americans are finding that [50:17] housing has become unaffordable especially in metropolitan areas it is particularly acute in your home state [50:23] of california and places like los angeles and san francisco why are you the best person to fix this problem [50:29] when you look at inequality in the united states of america you have to start with housing where you [50:37] put your head at night determines so many things about your life it determines where your kids go to [50:44] school it determines the air you breathe where you shop how long it takes you to get to work what [50:50] what we've seen in california is as a result of policy we have millions too few housing units and that [50:59] affects everybody in california it starts with a homeless crisis that goes all through the state but it [51:07] also includes skyrocketing rents that affect every single working person in the state of california i [51:15] understand exactly what needs to be done here which is we need to change policy and we need to apply [51:21] resources here to make sure that we build literally millions of new units but the other thing that's [51:28] going to be true about building these units is we're going to have to build them in a way that's [51:32] sustainable that in fact how we build units where people live has a dramatic impact on climate and on [51:41] sustainability so we're going to have to direct dollars we're going to have to change policy and [51:47] make sure that the the localities and municipalities who've worked very hard to make sure that there [51:53] are no new housing units built in their towns that they have to change that and we're going to have to [51:58] force it and then we're going to have to direct federal dollars to make sure that those units are [52:03] affordable so that working people can live in places and not be spending 50% of their income on rent [52:10] thank you mr seyer senator warren i see your hand raised yes um think of it this way our housing [52:15] problem in america is a problem on the supply side and that means that the federal government [52:21] stopped building new housing a long time ago affordable housing also private developers they've [52:26] gone up to the mansions they're not building the little two bedroom one bath house that i grew [52:30] up in garage converted to be a bedroom for my three brothers so i've got a plan for 3.2 million new [52:37] housing units in america those are housing units for working families for the working poor for the [52:42] poor poor for seniors who want to age in place for people with disabilities for people who are coming [52:48] back from being incarcerated it's about tenants rights but there's one more piece housing is how we [52:53] build wealth in america the federal government has subsidized the purchase of housing for decades [52:59] for white people and has said for black people you're cut out of the deal that was known as redlining [53:06] when i built a housing plan it's not only a housing plan about building new units it's a housing plan [53:12] about addressing what is wrong about government sponsored discrimination how we need to address [53:18] it and we need to say we're going to reverse thank you senator senator booker i i'm so grateful again [53:25] as a mayor who was a mayor during a recession who was a mayor during a housing crisis who started my [53:30] career as a tenants rights lawyer uh this are all good points but we're not talking about something [53:36] that is going on all over america which is gentrification and low-income families being moved [53:41] further and further out often compounding racial discretion racial segregation and so all of these [53:48] things we need to put more federal dollars in it but we've got to start empowering people we use our [53:52] tax code to move wealth up the mortgage interest deduction my plan is very simple if you're a renter [53:59] who pays more than a third of your income in rent then you will get a refundable tax credit [54:06] between the amount you're paying in the area median rent that empowers people in the same way [54:11] we empower homeowners and what that does is it actually slashes poverty 10 million people out [54:16] and by the way for those people who are facing eviction it is about time that the only people when [54:21] they show up in rentals court that have a lawyer is not the landlord it is also low-income families [54:27] struggling to stay in their homes thank you senator rachel we're going to take a quick break but we [54:31] will be right back with these candidates from the msnbc washington post democratic candidates debate [54:36] in atlanta georgia stay with us msnbc washington post democratic candidates debate let's get right [55:08] back into it american farmers are struggling under the effects of president trump's trade war with china [55:15] the trump administration's payments to farmers to offset those losses already have a price tag that is [55:21] more than double what was spent on the obama administration's auto bailout mayor butta judge [55:27] would you continue those farm subsidies we shouldn't have to pay farmers to take the edge [55:33] off of a trade war that shouldn't have been started in the first place i will support farmers [55:38] but not long ago i was in boone iowa guy came up to me he said i got my trump bailout check but i would [55:44] have rather spent that money on conservation by the way this isn't even making farmers whole if you're in [55:50] soybeans for example you're getting killed and it's not just what this president's done with the [55:55] trade war in a lot of parts of the country the worst thing is these so-called small refinery waivers [56:00] which are killing those who are involved in ethanol look i don't think this president cares one bit [56:05] about farmers he keeps asking him to take one for the team but more and more i'm talking to people in [56:11] rural america who see that they're not going to benefit from business as usual under this president [56:17] i believe that so many of the solutions lie with american farmers but we have to stand up for them [56:23] not just with direct subsidies and support but with making sure we do something about the [56:27] consolidation the monopolies that leave farmers with fewer places to purchase supplies from and [56:32] fewer places to sell their product to and american farming should be one of the key pillars of how we [56:39] combat climate change i believe that the quest for the carbon negative farm could be as big a symbol of [56:45] dealing with climate change as the electric car in this country and it's an important part of how [56:50] we make sure that we get a message out around dealing with climate change that recruits everybody [56:55] to be part of the solution including conservative communities where a lot of people have been made [56:59] to feel that admitting climate science would mean acknowledging they're part of the problem i'm sorry to [57:04] interrupt but i need you to answer the question would you continue those subsidies or not yes but we won't [57:09] need them because we're going to fix the trade war thank you sir the u.n recently reported that what was once [57:15] called climate change is now a climate crisis with drastic results already being felt climate is also [57:22] an issue important to our audience we received thousands of questions from our viewers and many [57:27] of them were about climate calista from minneapolis writes this oh lead leading the world in resolving the [57:35] climate crisis will be a multi-decade project spanning far beyond even a two-term presidency if you are elected [57:42] president how would you ensure that there is secure leadership and bipartisan support to continue this [57:49] project congresswoman gabbard this is an issue that impacts all of us as americans and people all [57:56] over the world this is not a democrat issue or republican issue this is about the environmental threats [58:01] that each and every one of us face these are the kinds of conversations that we're having in our town hall [58:06] meetings and house parties in different parts of the country where we have democrats republicans [58:12] libertarians and independents coming together saying hey we are all concerned about making sure [58:17] that we have clean water to drink for our families that we have clean air to breathe that we're able [58:23] to raise our kids in a community that's safe it is the hyper partisanship in washington unfortunately [58:30] that has created this gridlock that has stood in the way of the kinds of progress that i would bring [58:35] about bring about as president transitioning our country off of fossil fuels and ending the nearly [58:42] 30 billion dollars in subsidies that we as taxpayers are currently giving to the fossil fuel industry [58:48] instead investing in a green renewable energy economy that leads us into the 21st century with good [58:54] paying jobs a sustainable economy investing in infrastructure and transitioning our agriculture [59:01] that is a great contributor to the environmental threats we face towards an agriculture system that [59:06] focuses on local and regional production of food healthy food that will actually feed the health and [59:12] well-being of our people leading as a leader in the world to make the global change necessary to address [59:19] thank you congresswoman i want to bring in mr steyer on this you've made central climate change a central [59:23] point of your political career to this issue of making change changes that last making changes that [59:28] are permanent could you address that sir rachel i'm the only person on this stage who will say that [59:33] climate is the number one priority for me vice president biden won't say it senator warren won't say it [59:41] it's a state of emergency and i would declare a state of emergency on day one i would use the emergency powers of the [59:49] presidency i know that we have to do this i've spent a decade fighting and beating oil companies [59:56] stopping pipelines stopping fossil fuel plants ensuring clean energy across the country i know that [1:00:03] we have to do this i also know that we can do this i would make this the number one priority of my [1:00:10] foreign policy as well we can do this and create literally millions of good-paying union jobs across this [1:00:18] country i would make sure that my climate policy was led by environmental justice and members of [1:00:27] the communities where this society has chosen to put our air and water pollution which are low-income [1:00:33] black and brown communities and when we ask how are we going to pull this country together how about [1:00:38] this we take on the biggest challenge in history we save the world and we do it together do you think [1:00:44] that would pull america together i do quickly vice president biden you were name-checked there i'd like [1:00:49] to give you a chance yeah i was i i i i think it is the existential threat to humanity it's the number one issue [1:00:56] and i might add i i don't really need kind of a lecture from this from my friend while i was passing the [1:01:04] first uh climate change bill and that so the fact said was a game changer while i managed the uh 90 [1:01:12] billion dollar recovery plan investing more money in infrastructure that related to clean energy than [1:01:19] any time we've ever done it uh my friend was uh um uh producing more coal mines and produced more coal [1:01:28] around the world according to the press than all of great britain producers now he's i i i i i welcome [1:01:35] him back into the fold here and he's been there for a long while but the idea that we talk about [1:01:40] where we started and how we are let's get this straight i think it is the existential threat of [1:01:46] all time can i respond to that you may respond mr steyer look i came to the conclusion over 10 years ago [1:01:54] that climate was the absolute problem of our society and was the unintended consequence of our [1:02:01] whole country being based on fossil fuels everybody in this room has lived in an economy [1:02:06] based on fossil fuels and we all have to come to the same conclusion that i came to over a decade ago [1:02:13] if we're waiting for congress to pass one of the bills and i know everybody on this stage cares about [1:02:19] this but congress has never passed an important climate bill ever this is a problem which continues [1:02:26] to get worse that's why i'm saying it's a state of emergency that's why i'm saying it's [1:02:31] priority one if it isn't priority one it's not going to get done and this is something where [1:02:36] we absolutely have to address it up front we have to make it the most important thing and we [1:02:41] can use it to rebuild and reimagine what the united states is we can be the moral leaders of the [1:02:47] world again while we clean up our air and water and create millions of good-paying jobs senator [1:02:52] sanders i'm going to ask you to jump in here tom you stated you were you talked about the need to [1:02:58] make climate change a national emergency i've introduced legislation to just do that now i [1:03:05] disagree with the thrust of the original question your question has said what are we going to do in [1:03:10] decades we don't have decades what the scientists are telling us we don't get our act together within [1:03:17] the next eight or nine years we're talking about cities all over the world major cities going under [1:03:23] water we're talking about increased drought talking about increased extreme weather disturbances the [1:03:30] united nations is telling us that in the years to come they're going to be hundreds of millions of [1:03:36] climate refugees causing national security issues all over the world what we have got to do tonight [1:03:45] and i will do as president is to tell the fossil fuel industry that their short-term profits are not [1:03:53] more important than the future of this planet and by the way the fossil fuel industry is probably [1:04:00] criminally liable because they have lied and lied and lied and lied when they had the evidence that [1:04:08] their carbon products were destroying the planet and maybe we should think about prosecuting them as well [1:04:14] thank you senator sanders andrea president trump has dramatically changed america's approach to our [1:04:20] adversaries by holding summits with kim jong-un getting out of the iran nuclear deal and at times [1:04:26] embracing vladimir putin and other strongmen so let's talk about what kind of commander-in-chief you [1:04:31] would be senator harris north korea is now threatening to cancel any future summits if president trump does [1:04:37] not make concessions on nuclear weapons if you were commander-in-chief would you make concessions to kim jong-un [1:04:44] in order to keep those talks going with all due deference to the fact that this is a presidential [1:04:50] debate donald trump got punked he was born he has conducted foreign policy since day one born out of [1:05:01] a very fragile ego that fails to understand that one of the most important responsibilities of the [1:05:07] commander-in-chief is to concern herself with the security of our nation and homeland and to do it in a [1:05:16] way that understands that part of the strength of who we are as a nation and therefore an extension [1:05:21] of our ability to be secure is not only that we have a vibrant military but that when we walk in [1:05:28] any room around the globe we are respected because we keep to our word we are consistent we speak truth [1:05:39] and we are loyal what donald trump has done from pulling out of the paris agreement to pulling out [1:05:45] of the iran nuclear deal to consistently turning a back on people who have stood with us in difficult [1:05:54] times including most recently the kurds points out that donald trump is the greatest threat to the [1:05:59] national security of our nation at this moment but would you make concessions to north korea to [1:06:04] not at this point there are no concessions to be made they they there he has traded a photo op for [1:06:10] nothing he has abandoned by by by by shutting down the operations with south korea for the last year [1:06:18] and a half so those operations which should be and those exercises which should be active because [1:06:24] they are in our best national security the relationship that we have with japan he has in [1:06:29] every way compromised our ability to have any influence on slowing down or at least having a [1:06:35] check and balance on north korea's nuclear program thank you senator mr mr vice president [1:06:41] president trump inherited the north korea problem from past presidents over decades what would a [1:06:47] president biden do that president obama didn't do in eight years well first of all i'd go back [1:06:53] and making sure we had the alliances we had before he became president he has absolutely ostracized [1:06:59] us from south korea he has given north korea everything they wanted creating the legitimacy [1:07:05] by having a meeting with kim jong-un who's a thug although he points out that i'm a rabid dog [1:07:11] need to be beaten with a stick um very recently was his comment his comment other than that you like [1:07:16] other than that i like him and and uniting japan and australia and being a pacific power and putting [1:07:25] pressure on china in order for them to make sure that it is a non it is a nuclear free peninsula and [1:07:33] the way we do that is we make clear to china which i have done personally with with uh with uh [1:07:38] the president of china and that is we're going to move up our defenses we're going to continue to [1:07:43] make sure we increase our relationship with south korea and if they view that as a threat it's an [1:07:49] easy thing to respond to they in fact can in fact put pressure on north korea but the fact is that we're [1:07:56] in a position where he has done this across the world he's embraced thugs look what putin is doing [1:08:02] in europe putin is his whole effort is to break up nato to increase his power look what he's done to [1:08:09] it and so this guy has no idea what he's doing he has no notion how to go about it and we need a [1:08:15] commander-in-chief when he stands everybody knows what he or she is talking thank you thank you mr [1:08:19] vice president two more u.s soldiers were killed today in afghanistan tragically [1:08:25] in america's longest war senator sanders you've long said you want to bring the troops back home [1:08:31] from afghanistan would you cut a deal with the taliban to end the war even if it means the collapse of [1:08:37] the afghan government that america has long supported well let me just say this um one of the big [1:08:45] differences between the vice president and myself is he supported the terrible war in iraq and i helped [1:08:54] lead the opposition against it and not only that i voted against the very first gulf war as well and [1:09:03] i think we need a foreign policy which understands who our enemies are that we don't have to spend 10 [1:09:11] more than more money on the military than the next 10 nations combined but to answer your question [1:09:17] yeah i think it is time after spending many trillions of dollars on these endless wars which [1:09:26] have resulted in more dislocation and mass migrations and pain in that region it is time to bring our troops [1:09:33] home but unlike trump i will not do it through a tweet at three o'clock in the morning i will do it [1:09:41] working with the international community and if it's necessary to negotiate with the taliban of course [1:09:47] we will do that but at the end of the day we have to rethink the entire war on terror which has caused [1:09:54] so much pain and lost so many lives not only for our own men and women in the armed forces but for [1:09:59] people in that region as well thank you senator ashley thank you mr yang if you win the 2020 election [1:10:06] what would you say in your first call with russian president vladimir putin well first i'd say i'm [1:10:19] sorry i beat your guy or not sorry not sorry and second i would say the days of meddling in american [1:10:33] elections are over and we will take any undermining of our democratic processes as an act of hostility [1:10:40] and aggression the american people would back me on this we know that they've found an underbelly [1:10:45] and they've been clawing at it and it's made it so that we can't even trust our own democracy the third [1:10:51] thing i would say is that we're going to live up to our international commitments we're going to [1:10:56] recommit to our partnerships and alliances including nato and it was james maddis that said that the [1:11:02] more you invest in diplomats in diplomacy the less you have to spend on ammunition that has to be the [1:11:08] path forward to help build an international consensus not just against russia but also to build a [1:11:14] coalition that will help us put pressure on china in terms of their treatment of their ethnic minorities [1:11:19] and what's going on in hong kong i want to propose a new world data organization like a wto for data [1:11:26] because right now unfortunately we're living in a world where data is the new oil and we don't have [1:11:30] our arms around it these are the ways that we'll actually get russia to the table and make it so they [1:11:35] have to join the international community and stop resisting appeals to the world order thank you mr yang [1:11:42] rachel on the issue of china senator booker china is now using force against demonstrators in hong kong [1:11:51] where millions have taken to the streets advocating for democratic reforms many of the demonstrators [1:11:56] are asking the united states for help if you were president would the u.s help their movement and how [1:12:03] well first of all this is a president who seems to want to go up against china [1:12:06] uh in a trade war by pulling away from our allies and in fact attacking them as well we use a national [1:12:14] security waiver to put tariffs on canada and so at the very time that china is breaking international [1:12:20] rules is practicing unfair practices stealing technology forcing technology transfer and violating [1:12:26] human rights this nation is pulling away from critical allies we would need to show strength against [1:12:32] china there's a larger battle going on on the planet earth right now between totalitarian dictatorial [1:12:38] countries and free democracies and we see the scorecard under this president not looking so good [1:12:44] with china actually shifting more towards an authoritarian government with its leader now getting rid of [1:12:49] even uh his getting rid of term limits and so i believe we need a much stronger policy one that's not [1:12:55] led as president trump seems to want to do in a transactional way but one that's led by american [1:13:00] values so yes we will call china out for its human rights violations but not only that we will stop [1:13:07] engaging in things that violate american rights because it is a human rights violation when people [1:13:12] at our border children are thrown in cages it's a human rights violations without coming to the united [1:13:17] states congress for an authorization for the use of military force for us to refuel saudi jets to bomb [1:13:24] yemeni children it is about time that this country is led by someone who will say the values of freedom [1:13:32] and democracy or what we are going to lead with and begin to check china check putin and the other [1:13:38] folks that are trying to undermine american values and democratic values around the globe thank you senator [1:13:43] andrea mr vice president the cia has concluded that the leader of saudi arabia directed the murder of [1:13:50] u.s based journalist jamal khashoggi the state department also says the saudi government is [1:13:55] responsible for executing non-violent offenders and for torture president trump has not punished senior [1:14:02] saudi leaders would you yes and i said it at the time khashoggi was in fact murdered and dismembered [1:14:11] and i believe in the order of the crown prince and i would make it very clear we were not going to in [1:14:17] fact sell more weapons to them we were going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in [1:14:23] fact the pariah that they are there's very little social redeeming value of the in the present uh [1:14:30] government in saudi arabia and i would also as pointed out i would end and the subsidies that we have [1:14:36] and the sale of material to the saudi so they're going in and murdering children and they're murdering [1:14:42] innocent people and so they have to be held accountable and with regard to china we should [1:14:47] look unless we make it clear that we stand for human rights we should be going to the united nations [1:14:55] seeking condemnation of china what they're doing with a million uighurs that are there essentially in [1:15:01] concentration camps in the west we should be vocally vocally speaking out about the violation of the [1:15:07] commitment they made to hong kong we have to speak out and speak loudly about violations of human rights [1:15:15] senator klobuchar just to follow up would you go against the saudi's even though that would [1:15:20] potentially help iran their adversaries we need a new foreign policy in this country and that means [1:15:27] renewing our relationships with our allies it means rejoining uh international agreements uh and it [1:15:34] means reasserting our american values and so when the president did not stand up the way he should [1:15:42] have to that killing and that dismemberment of a journalist with an american newspaper that sent a [1:15:48] single signal to all dictators across the country that across the world that that was okay and that's [1:15:55] wrong and i want to add a few things to what my colleagues have said first of all the question [1:15:59] about russia when we look at international agreements we must start negotiating back with [1:16:04] russia which has been a horrible player on the international scene but the president precipitously [1:16:10] got out of the nuclear agreement with russia and we must start negotiating even though they were [1:16:15] cheating for the good of this world and we must also start the negotiations for the new start treaty [1:16:20] and when it comes to china we need someone that sees the long term like i do just like the chinese do [1:16:26] because we have a president that literally makes decisions based on his next tweet and they are in it [1:16:31] for the long game senator sanders i think i may have been the first person up here to make it clear [1:16:40] that saudi arabia not only murdered khashoggi but this is a brutal dictatorship which does everything it can [1:16:48] to crush democracy treats women as third class citizens and when we rethink our american foreign [1:16:55] policy what we have got to know is that saudi arabia is not a reliable ally we have got to bring iran [1:17:02] and saudi arabia together in a room under american leadership and say we are sick and tired of us [1:17:09] spending huge amounts of money and human resources because of your conflicts and by the way the same thing [1:17:16] goes with israel and the palestinians it is no longer good enough for us simply to be pro-israel i am [1:17:23] pro-israel but we must treat the palestinian people as well with the respect and dignity that they deserve [1:17:31] what is going on in gaza right now where youth unemployment is 70 or 80 percent is unsustainable [1:17:38] so we need to be rethinking who our allies are around the world work with the united nations and not [1:17:44] continue to support brutal dictatorships thank you senator rachel senator warren only about one percent [1:17:51] of americans serve in the united states military right now should that number be higher yes i think [1:17:56] it should be you know all three of my brothers served in the military one was career military uh uh [1:18:03] the other two also served i think it's an important part of who we are as americans and i think the [1:18:10] the notion of shared service is important um it's how we help bring our nation together it's how [1:18:18] people learn to work together from different regions people who grew up differently it's also [1:18:24] about how families share that sacrifice i remember what it was like when i was a little girl my brother [1:18:31] my oldest brother who served five and a half years off and on in combat in vietnam and what it was like for [1:18:36] my mother every day to check the mailbox uh had we heard from don reid how's he doing and if there [1:18:43] was a letter she was brighter than the day and if it wasn't she'd say well maybe tomorrow [1:18:49] this is about building for our entire nation and i believe we should do that i also believe we [1:18:55] should have other service opportunities in this country so for example what i want to do is for [1:19:01] our federal lands i want to bring in 10 000 people who want to be able to serve in our federal lands [1:19:08] to be able to help rebuild our national forests and national parks as a way to express both their [1:19:15] public service and their commitment to fighting back against climate change we can do this as a nation [1:19:21] thank you senator in president trump's first two years in office the pentagon budget ballooned [1:19:27] mayor mayor buddha judge would you cut military spending or would you keep it on the same upward [1:19:31] trajectory we need to reprioritize our budget as a whole and our military spending in particular [1:19:39] it's not just how much although we certainly need to look at the runaway growth in military spending [1:19:44] it's also where right now we are spending a fraction of the intention and resources on things [1:19:50] like the artificial intelligence research that china is doing right now if we fall behind on artificial [1:19:57] intelligence the most expensive ships that the united states is building just turn into bigger [1:20:03] targets we do not have a 21st century security strategy coming from this president after all he's [1:20:10] relying on 17th century security technologies like a moat full of alligators or a big wall there is no [1:20:17] concept of strategic planning for how civilian diplomatic and military security work needs to take place for [1:20:25] the future can i can i respond thank you respond on this coming up we will have much more from the [1:20:32] candidates we're going to take a quick break just a moment stay with us fbi director christopher ray [1:21:03] recently told congress quote the majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we've investigated [1:21:09] are motivated by white supremacist violence congresswoman gabbard to you as president would [1:21:15] you direct the federal government to do something about this problem that it is not currently doing [1:21:22] yes i would we have seen for far too long the kind of racial bigotry divisiveness and attacks [1:21:31] that have unfortunately taken the lives of our fellow americans leadership starts at the top it's [1:21:37] important that we set the record straight and correct the racial injustices that exist in a very [1:21:43] institutional way in our country beginning with things that have to do with our criminal justice [1:21:49] system where predominantly the failed war on drugs that has been continuing to be waged in this country [1:21:55] has disproportionately impacted people of color and people in poverty this is something that i'll do as [1:22:02] president and commander in chief is to overhaul our criminal justice system working in a bipartisan way [1:22:08] to do things like end the failed war on drugs and the money bail system and that's the kinds of [1:22:15] prison reforms and sentencing reforms that we need to see that will correct the failures of the past [1:22:21] the most important thing here is that we recognize that we have to treat each other with respect all of us [1:22:27] as fellow americans regardless of race religion ethnicity gender orientation and our politics that [1:22:35] kind of leadership starts at the top as president i will usher in a 21st century white house that [1:22:42] actually represents the interests of all americans first and foremost congressman gabbard thank you for [1:22:47] that mr yang what would you do about the issue of white supremacist violence well first we have to [1:22:53] designate white supremacist terrorism as domestic terrorism so that the department of justice can [1:22:58] properly measure it i talked to an anti-hate activist named christian piccolini who told me about [1:23:08] how he was radicalized over a 10-year period he said he was a lonely 14-year-old and that he was [1:23:14] reached out to by a hate group and he wound up joining it for a decade now he's out and he's helping [1:23:20] convert people out of those hate groups and back into the rest of society but what he told me was that [1:23:27] if anyone had reached out to him when he was that hurt broken 14-year-old boy he would have gone with [1:23:31] them he said if it had been a coach i would have gone with him if it had been a mentor teacher i would [1:23:36] have gone with them but instead it was a hate group so what we have to do is we have to get into [1:23:40] the roots of our communities and create paths forward for men in particular who right now are falling [1:23:45] through the cracks and when you look at gun violence in this country 96 plus percent of the shooters we're [1:23:52] talking about are young boys and young men we have to as a country start finding ways to turn our [1:23:58] boys into healthy strong young men who do not hate but instead feel like they have paths forward [1:24:04] in today's economy mr yang thank you for that vice president biden the me too movement has forced [1:24:11] a cultural reckoning around the issue of sexual violence and harassment against women in america [1:24:16] are there specific actions that you would take early in your administration to address this problem [1:24:23] yes and by the way it's one of the reasons the first thing i would do is make sure we pass [1:24:27] the violence against women act reauthorization which i wrote the fact i didn't write the [1:24:31] reauthorization i wrote the original act the fact is that what happens now is that [1:24:36] we in fact have to fundamentally change the culture the culture of how women are treated that's why as [1:24:44] vice president when i asked the president i could start the the movement on the college campuses to [1:24:49] say it's on us it's everyone's responsibility we do not spend nearly enough time dealing with i was [1:24:57] stunned when i did a virtual town meeting that told me 30 000 people are on the on the call young [1:25:03] people between 15 and 25 and found out i said what do you need what do you need to make you safer on [1:25:10] college campuses on your schools you know what they said get men involved engage the rest of the [1:25:16] community and that's where we started this movement on the college campuses to fundamentally change the [1:25:22] culture no man has a right to raise a hand to a woman in anger other than in self-defense and that's [1:25:30] rarely ever occurs and so we have to just change the culture period and keep punching at it and [1:25:36] punching at it and punching at it and punching at it it will be a big no i really mean it it make [1:25:41] it it's a gigantic issue and we have to make it clear from the top from the president on down that [1:25:48] we will not tolerate it we will not tolerate this culture mr vice president thank you senator harris [1:25:55] this week you criticized mayor pete buddha judge's outreach to african-american voters you said quote [1:26:01] the democratic nominee has got to be someone who has the experience of connecting with all of who [1:26:07] we are as the diversity of the american people end quote what exactly prompted you to say that senator [1:26:13] harris well that was asked a question um that related to a stock photograph um that his campaign [1:26:21] has been published but listen i think that the it really speaks to a larger issue and i'll speak to [1:26:27] the larger issue i believe that the mayor has um made apologies for that um the larger issue is that [1:26:38] for too long i think candidates have taken for granted constituencies that have been the backbone of [1:26:44] the democratic party and have overlooked those constituencies and um have you know they show up when [1:26:52] it's you know close to election time and show up in a black church um and and want to get the vote but [1:26:58] just haven't been there before i mean you know the the there are plenty of people who applauded black [1:27:04] women for the success of the 2018 election applauded black women for the election of a senator from [1:27:11] alabama um but you know at some point folks get tired of just saying oh you know thank me for showing up [1:27:19] and one and and say well show up for me because when black women when black women are three to four [1:27:27] times more likely to die in connection with childbirth in america when the sons of black women will die [1:27:34] because of gun violence more than any other cause of death when black women make 61 cents on the dollar [1:27:41] as compared to all women who tragically make 80 cents on the dollar the question has to be [1:27:46] where you've been and what are you going to do and do you understand who the people running for [1:27:56] president because i believe that we have to have leadership in this country who has worked with and [1:28:03] have the experience of working with all folks and we've got to recreate the obama coalition to win [1:28:09] and that means about women that's people of color that's our lgbtq community that's working people [1:28:14] that's our labor unions but that is how we are going to win this election and i intend to win [1:28:19] senator harris thank you mayor buta judge your response to that my response is i completely agree [1:28:25] and i welcome the challenge of connecting with black voters in america who don't yet know me and [1:28:32] before i share what's in my plans let me talk about what's in my heart and why this is so important [1:28:39] as mayor of a city that is racially diverse and largely low income for eight years i have lived and [1:28:45] breathed the successes and struggles of a community where far too many people live with the consequences [1:28:52] of racial inequity that has built up over centuries but been compounded by policies policies and [1:28:58] decisions from within living memory i care about this because my faith teaches me that salvation has to [1:29:05] do with how i make myself useful to those who have been excluded marginalized and cast aside and oppressed in [1:29:13] society and i care about this because while i do not have the experience of ever having been [1:29:20] discriminated against because of the color of my skin i do have the experience of sometimes feeling [1:29:26] like a stranger in my own country turning on the news and seeing my own rights come up for debate and [1:29:32] seeing my rights expanded by a coalition of people like me and people not at all like me working [1:29:39] this side by side shoulder to shoulder making it possible for me to be standing here wearing this [1:29:45] wedding ring in a way that couldn't have happened two elections ago lets me know just how deep my [1:29:49] obligation is to help those whose rights are on the line every day even if they are nothing like me [1:29:56] in their experience mayor brutigieg thank you very much senator harris quick response look there's a lot [1:30:04] at stake in this election and i've said it many times i think justice is on the ballot in 2020 and [1:30:10] it's about economic justice it's about justice for for for children it's about justice for for our [1:30:15] teachers i could go on down the list and so the the issue really is not what is the fight the issue [1:30:21] has to be how we're going to win and to win we have to build a coalition and rebuild the obama coalition [1:30:28] i keep referring to that because that's the last time we won and the way that that election look and [1:30:34] the what that coalition look like was it was about having a leader who had worked in many communities [1:30:39] knows those communities and has the ability to bring people together and everyone is going to [1:30:44] have to be judged on their experience and therefore ability to bring folks together around our commonalities [1:30:51] of which i believe there are many thank you senator senator warren quickly so i think it is really [1:30:57] important that we actually talk about what we're willing to get in the fight for and i just want to give [1:31:03] one example around this senator harris rightly raised the question of economic justice let me give a [1:31:08] specific example and that is student loan debt right now in america in america african americans are [1:31:15] more likely to borrow money to go to college borrow more money while they're in college and have a harder [1:31:20] time paying that debt off after they get out today in america a new study came out 20 years out [1:31:27] white who borrowed money 94 of them have paid off their student loan debt five percent of african americans [1:31:35] have paid it off i believe that means everyone on the stage should be embracing student loan debt [1:31:41] forgiveness it will help close the black white wealth gap let's do something tangible and real to make [1:31:48] change in this country senator warren thank you ashley senator warren back to you you've said that the [1:31:53] border wall that president trump has proposed is quote a monument to hate and division would you ask [1:32:00] taxpayers to pay to take down any part of the wall on the nation's southern border if there are parts [1:32:07] of the wall that are not useful in our defense of course we should do it the real point here is that [1:32:14] we need to stop this man-made crisis at the border trump is the one who has created this crisis [1:32:20] and he has done it in no small part by helping destabilize the governments even further in [1:32:27] central america he has withdrawn aid that means that families have to flee for their lives have to flee [1:32:34] for any economic opportunity you know when i found out that our government was actually taking away [1:32:41] children from their families i went down to the border i went down there immediately i was in mccallan texas [1:32:46] and i just hope everyone remembers what this looks like it was like a giant amazon warehouse filled with [1:32:52] cages of women cages of men and cages of little girls and little boys i spoke to a woman who was in the [1:33:01] cage of nursing mothers and she told me she'd given a drink to a police officer and that the word had come [1:33:08] down from the gangs that she was helping the police she knew what that meant she wrapped up her baby and she [1:33:14] ran for the border we need to treat the people who come here with dignity and with respect a great [1:33:21] nation does not separate children from their families we need to live our values at the border every [1:33:28] single day thank you senator senator booker a quick response look i want to be quick on this because i'd [1:33:37] like to get back to something that wasn't included in is so absolutely if the if this is not effective [1:33:45] we see people cutting holes in his wall his wall what he brags about is just wrong we need to have [1:33:49] policies of respect dignity keep us safe and strong i wanted to return back to this issue of black [1:33:55] voters i have a lifetime of experience with black voters i've been one since i was 18. [1:34:04] nobody on this stage should need a focus group to hear from african-american voters [1:34:08] black voters are pissed off and they're worried they're pissed off because the only time our issues seem [1:34:13] to be really paid attention to by politicians is when people are looking for their vote and they're [1:34:17] worried because the democratic party we don't want to see people miss this opportunity and lose [1:34:24] because we are nominating someone that doesn't isn't trusted doesn't have authentic connection [1:34:30] and so that's what's on the ballot and issues do matter i i have a lot of respect uh for for the [1:34:36] vice president he is swore me into my office as a hero this week i hear him literally say [1:34:41] that i don't think we should legalize marijuana i i i i thought you might have been high when you [1:34:47] said it and let me tell you marijuana marijuana in our country is already legal for privileged [1:34:57] people and it's one the war on drugs has been a war on black and brown people and so let me just let [1:35:04] me just say this with more african-americans under criminal supervision in america than all the slaves [1:35:11] since 1850 do not roll up into communities and not talk directly to issues that are going to relate [1:35:18] to the liberation of children because there are people in congress right now that admit to smoking [1:35:23] marijuana while there are people our kids are in jail right now for those drug crimes and so these are [1:35:29] the kind of issues that mean a lot to our community and if we don't have somebody authentically [1:35:35] we lost the last election let me just give you this data example we lost in wisconsin because of a [1:35:41] massive diminution a lot of reasons but there was a massive diminution in the african-american vote [1:35:46] we need to have someone that can inspire as kamala said to inspire african-americans to the polls at [1:35:52] record numbers thank you senator booker vice president biden you can respond to that i'll be very brief [1:35:56] number one i think we should decriminalize marijuana period and i think everyone anyone who has a record [1:36:02] should be let out of jail their records expunged it'd be completely zeroed out but i do think it [1:36:09] makes sense based on data that we should study what the long-term effects on for the use of [1:36:15] marijuana that's all it is number one everybody gets out record expunged secondly i uh you know i'm [1:36:22] part of that that obama coalition i come out of the black community in terms of my support if you notice [1:36:28] i have more people supporting me in the black community that have announced for me because [1:36:33] they know me they know who i am three former chairs of the black caucus the only black african-american [1:36:39] woman that's ever been elected to the united states senate a whole range of people my point is [1:36:44] my point is that one of the reasons i was picked to be vice president was because of my relationship [1:37:02] long-standing relationship with the black community i was part of that coalition thank you [1:37:09] krista and we do have to take another quick break but we are going to hear much more from the candidates [1:37:15] when we come right back here in atlanta georgia stay with us welcome back to the msnbc washington [1:37:36] post democratic candidates debate many states including right here where we are tonight in georgia [1:37:41] have passed laws that severely limit or outright ban abortion right now roe versus wade protects a [1:37:49] woman's right to abortion nationwide but if roe gets overturned and abortion access disappears in some [1:37:55] states would you intervene as president to try to bring that access back senator klobuchar well of course [1:38:01] we should codify roe v wade into law that is what we should do and this president [1:38:09] indicated early on what he was going to do and he's done it when he was running for office [1:38:14] he literally said he women should go to jail then he dialed it back and said doctors should go to jail [1:38:20] so no surprise that we're seeing these kinds of laws in georgia and alabama where his allies are [1:38:26] passing these bills and what we have to remember is that the people are with us and i predict this [1:38:32] will be a big election in issue in the general election and i just can't wait to stand across from [1:38:38] donald trump and say this to him you know what the people are with us over 70 percent of the people [1:38:45] support roe v wade over 90 percent of the people support funding for planned parenthood and making [1:38:52] sure that women can get the health care they need he is off the track on this and he will hear from [1:38:59] the women of america and this is how we're going to win this election just this weekend louisiana [1:39:05] re-elected a democratic governor john bell edwards he has signed one of the country's toughest laws [1:39:11] restricting abortion is there room in the democratic party for someone like him someone who can win in [1:39:17] a deep red state but who does not support abortion rights senator warren look i believe that abortion [1:39:24] rights are human rights i believe that they are also economic rights and protecting the right of a woman [1:39:31] to be able to make decisions about her own body is fundamentally what we do and what we stand for [1:39:37] as a democratic party understand this when someone makes abortion illegal in america rich women will [1:39:44] still get abortions it's just going to fall hard on poor women it's going to fall hard on girls women [1:39:50] who don't even know that they're pregnant because they have been molested by an uncle i want to be [1:39:56] an america where everybody has a chance and i know it could be a hard decision for people but here's the [1:40:02] thing when it comes down to that decision a woman should be able to call on her mother she should [1:40:08] be able to call on her partner she should be able to call on her priest or her rabbi but the one [1:40:14] entity that should not be in the middle of that decision is the government senator warren i need to [1:40:20] push you on this a little bit for a specific answer to the question governor john bell edwards in [1:40:25] louisiana is an anti-abortion governor who has signed abortion restrictions in louisiana [1:40:29] is there room for him in the democratic party with those politics i have made clear what i think [1:40:33] the democratic party stands for i'm not here to try to drive anyone out of this party i'm not here to [1:40:39] try to build fences but i am here to say this is what i will fight for as president of the united [1:40:45] states the women of america can count senator warren thank you senator sanders i'll give you 30 seconds [1:40:49] amy mentioned that women feel strongly on it well let me just tell you that if there's ever a time in [1:40:56] american history where the men of this country must stand with the women this is the moment and i get [1:41:04] very tired very tired of hearing the hypocrisy from conservatives who say get the government off our [1:41:12] backs we want small government well if you want to get the government out of the backs of the american [1:41:19] people that understand that it is women who control their own bodies not politicians [1:41:29] senator booker this is a voting issue this is a voter suppression issue right here in this great state [1:41:35] of georgia it was the voter suppression particularly of african-american communities that prevented us from [1:41:41] having a governor stacy abrams right now and that is when you have undemocratic means when you suppress [1:41:48] people's votes to get elected those are the very people you're going to come after after when you [1:41:53] when you're in office and this bill opposed by over 70 percent the heartbeat bill here proposed by over [1:41:59] 70 percent of georgians is the result from voter suppression this gets back to the issue about making [1:42:05] sure we are fighting every single day that whoever is the nominee they can overcome the attempts to [1:42:11] suppress the votes particularly of low-income and minority voters and particularly in the black [1:42:15] community like we saw here senator booker thank you and to that point individual states as you all know [1:42:20] set their own rules for voting and for elections depending on where you live you may be required to [1:42:26] show id or not you might have a lot of days for early voting or fewer days or none you might have a [1:42:33] polling place in walking distance or you might have to drive or take a bus [1:42:37] to the edge of town with that in mind our next question comes from jenna in maryland who asks [1:42:42] what will you do at the executive level to ensure that every american has equal access to [1:42:48] the ballot box mayor but a judge well uh we need federal leadership to establish voting rights for [1:42:54] the 21st century because this affects every other issue that we care about now the house of [1:43:01] representatives passed a pro-democracy anti-corruption bill which is one of many good bills to die in [1:43:09] mitch mcconnell's hands in the united states senate we know that with the white house in the right [1:43:14] hands we can make for example election days a federal holiday we can use carrots and sticks to induce [1:43:21] states to do the right thing with automatic voter registration same day voter registration making it [1:43:27] easier for people to vote and in particular recognizing that we cannot allow the kind of [1:43:33] racially motivated or partisan voter suppression or gerrymandering that often dictates the outcome of [1:43:39] election before the voting even begins right now we have politicians picking out their voters [1:43:46] rather than the other way around that compounding with what is being done to restrict the right to vote [1:43:52] means that our democracy is not worthy of the name and while these process issues are not always [1:43:58] fashionable we must act to reform our democracy itself including when it comes to choosing our [1:44:04] presidency like we do in every year election giving it to the person who got the most votes [1:44:09] i agree with what the mayor has just said but this is a good example uh where he has said the right [1:44:15] words but i actually have the experience and of leading 11 of the bills that are in that house pass bill [1:44:22] you just referred to um and i think this kind of experience matters i have been devoted to this from [1:44:29] the time that i've got to the senate and i think having that experience knowing how you can get things done [1:44:34] leading the bills to take the social media companies to task a bipartisan bill to say yeah you have to say [1:44:41] where these ads come from and how they're paid for and stop the unbelievable practice where we still [1:44:48] have 11 states that don't have backup paper ballots that is my bipartisan bill and i am so class [1:44:54] close to getting it done and the way i get it done is if i'm president but just like i have one [1:45:00] statewide and mayor i have all appreciation for your good work as a local official and you did not when you [1:45:06] tried i also have actually done this work i think experience should matter mayor buddich i'll let you [1:45:12] respond to that so first of all washington experience is not the only experience that matters [1:45:21] there's more than 100 years of washington experience on this stage and where are we right now as a [1:45:26] country i have the experience of bringing people together to get something done i have the experience of [1:45:35] being commanded into a war zone by an american president i have the experience of knowing what [1:45:41] is at stake as the decisions made in those big white buildings come into our lives our homes our families [1:45:48] our workplaces and our marriages and i would submit that this is the kind of experience we need not [1:45:54] just to go to washington but to change it before it is too late mr mayor thank you congresswoman gabbard on [1:45:59] the original question of voting rights please i mean voting rights are essential for our democracy [1:46:04] securing our elections is essential for our democracy i've introduced legislation called the [1:46:08] securing america's elections act that mandates paper ballots to make sure that every single voter's [1:46:15] voice is heard but i want to get back to pete buddich and his comment about experience i pete you'll [1:46:22] agree that the service that we both have provided to our country as veterans by itself does not qualify us [1:46:29] to serve as commander-in-chief i think the most recent example of your inexperience in national [1:46:35] security and foreign policy came from your recent careless statement about how you as president be [1:46:41] willing to send our troops to mexico to fight the cartels as commander-in-chief leader of our armed [1:46:50] forces i bring extensive experience serving for seven years in congress on the foreign affairs committee [1:46:58] on the armed services committee on the homeland security committee meeting with leaders of uh [1:47:03] countries around the world working with military commanders of different commands [1:47:08] congresswoman dealing with high-level national security briefings understanding what's necessary [1:47:14] the preparation that i've gotten to walk in on day one to serve as commander-in-chief [1:47:18] congresswoman thank you mr mayor i'll allow you to respond i know that it's par for the course in [1:47:22] washington to take remarks out of context but that is outlandish even by the standards of today's [1:47:28] politics are you saying that you didn't say that i was talking about u.s mexico cooperation we've [1:47:35] been doing security cooperation with mexico for years with law enforcement cooperation and a military [1:47:42] relationship that could continue to be developed with training relationships for example do you seriously [1:47:48] think anybody on this stage is proposing invading mexico that's not what i said i'm talking about [1:47:53] that's not about building alliances and if your question is about experience let's also talk [1:48:01] about judgment one of the foreign leaders you mentioned meeting was bashar al-assad i have in my [1:48:08] experience such as it is whether you think it counts or not since it wasn't accumulated in washington [1:48:13] enough judgment that i would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that [1:48:17] i would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that [1:48:22] i would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that [1:48:23] i would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that [1:48:25] i would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like that [1:48:26] you were asked directly whether you would send our troops to mexico to fight cartels and your answer [1:48:26] was yes the fact checkers can check this out but your point about judgment is absolutely correct [1:48:32] our commander-in-chief does need to have good judgment and what you've just pointed out is that you [1:48:38] would lack the courage to meet with both adversaries and friends to ensure the peace and national security of our nation [1:48:47] i take the example of those leaders who have come before us leaders like jfk who met with khrushchev [1:48:54] like roosevelt who met with stalin like donald trump who met like reagan who met [1:49:00] like reagan who met and worked with gorbachev these issues of national security are incredibly [1:49:06] important i will meet with and do what is necessary to make sure that no more of our brothers and sisters [1:49:13] in uniform are needlessly sent into harm's way fighting regime change wars that undermine our [1:49:19] national security i'll bring real leadership and experience to the white house i've got to respond [1:49:27] the american people understand that the political system we have today is corrupt and it is not just [1:49:35] voter suppression which costs the democratic party a governorship here in this state not just denying [1:49:42] black people and people of color the right to vote but we also have a system through citizens united [1:49:50] which allows billionaires to buy elections so what we need to do simple and straightforward [1:49:57] in every state in this country through the federal government if you are 18 you have a right to vote [1:50:03] end of discussion we have to overturn citizens united we need to move toward public funding of [1:50:13] elections on this last point mr steyer well i agree with exactly what bernie said but i want to talk [1:50:21] about how we're going to win in 2020 i don't mean to change the subject but i think it's sort of [1:50:25] important that the democratic party not only beat donald trump in 2020 but have a sweeping victory [1:50:31] across the country and what that's going to mean is turnout in the united states of america the [1:50:39] democratic party keeps talking about trying to persuade a few people who are republicans to like us [1:50:45] when up to half the people don't vote at all because they think neither party tells the truth [1:50:51] no one deals with my issues the system is broken why would we vote but what we've found at next gen america [1:50:58] is that is the start of a conversation about why votes are so important and if you look at 2018 and [1:51:05] flipping the house what really happened was democrats democratic voting went up by three quarters [1:51:12] in the 38 congressional districts where next gen america was turning out young people [1:51:17] the turnout went up by more than 100 percent more than double so for us to win for everybody on this [1:51:25] stage for whoever is the candidate to have a senate that's democratic for us to have the sweeping victory [1:51:31] that we absolutely are going to have next year it's a turnout question we're going to have to tell [1:51:36] the truth sir we're going to have to organize across this country thank you very much it is time [1:51:41] at this point it is well past time if i'm honest uh to start closing statements and we are going to [1:51:46] start tonight with senator booker the floor is yours thank you rachel it's an honor to be here tonight [1:51:51] i have not yet qualified for the december stage i need your help to do that if you believe in my [1:51:55] voice and that i should be up here please go to coreybooker.com please help i had a closing [1:52:01] statement prepared but i saw in the audience during the break a man named john lewis and perhaps [1:52:06] it's interesting and important for me to mention why i'm so grateful to him i've been calling in this [1:52:12] whole election for our need to fight and fight the right way by bringing people together to create [1:52:17] transformative change not just beat donald trump that's the floor we need to go to the ceiling we need [1:52:21] to go to the mountain top i am literally here on this stage right now because 50 years ago there [1:52:27] was a lawyer on a couch who changed his life changed his mind to get up and start representing [1:52:32] families one of them mine who were discriminated against the house i grew up in is because of that [1:52:36] lawyer's activity when i asked him why why he did what he did he told me that on march 7th 1965 he was [1:52:44] watching a movie called judgment at nuremberg on tv and they interrupted that movie to show a bridge in [1:52:50] alabama called the edmund pettus bridge and there he saw john lewis and other marchers who were beaten [1:52:57] viciously by alabama state troopers we all owe a debt that we cannot repay we all drink deeply from wells [1:53:05] of freedom and liberty that we did not dig this is the moment in america where we need a leader that [1:53:11] can inspire us to get up and fight again that we have truly a moral moment in america like it was back in [1:53:19] 1965. if you give me a chance to lead i will cause what john lewis says is good trouble i will challenge [1:53:27] us i will ask more from you than any other president has ever asked before because we need to mobilize [1:53:33] a new american movement keep me on this stage keep me on this race it is time we fight and fight [1:53:39] together please go to coreybooker.com senator booker thank you very much mr steyer your closing statement [1:53:46] last time i was on this stage i started by saying that everybody here is more patriotic and more [1:53:52] competent than the criminal in the white house and i stand by that statement but i'm different from [1:53:58] everybody else on this stage i know that the government in washington d.c is broken i know that [1:54:04] it's been purchased by corporations and i've spent a decade putting together coalitions of ordinary american [1:54:11] citizens to beat those corporations i'm the only one on this stage who's willing to talk about [1:54:18] structural change in washington itself term limits that if we're going to make bold changes we're going [1:54:24] to need new and different people in charge i'm the only person on this stage who spent decades [1:54:30] building an international business whoever of us is the democratic nominee is going to have to face [1:54:37] mr trump or the republicans and talk about the economy talk about growth understand that we can [1:54:44] make mr trump what he is a fraud and a failure on the economy which is his strong point i'm the only [1:54:50] person on this stage who will say that climate is my first priority that it's our biggest challenge [1:54:56] but it's our biggest opportunity to recreate this country if you want to beat mr trump if you want to [1:55:02] break the corporate stranglehold on this government if you want to pass all of the progressive [1:55:07] policies that everyone on this stage wants i'm the person who can do it thank you mr stryer i have [1:55:12] spent a decade trusting the american people thank you i'm asking you to trust me thank you [1:55:18] thank you congresswoman gabbard go ahead my personal commitment to you to all of my fellow americans is [1:55:28] to treat you with respect and compassion something that we in hawaii call aloha every single person [1:55:35] deserves to be treated with respect regardless of race religion or gender or even your politics [1:55:43] inclusion unity respect aloha these will be the operating principles for my administration now dr martin [1:55:53] luther king visited hawaii first back in 1959 where he expressed his appreciation for what we call the [1:55:59] aloha spirit he said we look to you for inspiration as a bold example for what you have already succeeded [1:56:09] in the areas of racial harmony and racial justice where we are still struggling to achieve in other [1:56:16] sections of the country he later went on to say as i looked out at the various faces in various colors [1:56:23] that are mingled together like the waters of the sea i see only one face the face of the future [1:56:32] working side by side let's defeat the divisiveness of donald trump come together and usher in a 21st [1:56:39] century of racial harmony of racial justice peace inclusion and true equality working side by side [1:56:48] let's make dr king's dream our reality thank you congresswoman mr yen your turn i'm here with my wife [1:56:58] evelyn tonight we have two young boys christopher and damien how many of you all are parents like us [1:57:03] here in the room so if you're a parent you've had this thought maybe you've been afraid to express it [1:57:09] and it is this our kids are not all right they're not all right because we're leaving them a future that [1:57:15] is far darker than the lives that we have led as their parents we are going through the greatest economic [1:57:20] transformation in our country's history the fourth industrial revolution and it is pushing more and [1:57:26] more of our people to the side we talk as if donald trump is the cause of all of our problems he is [1:57:31] not he is a symptom and we need to cure the disease now my first move was not to run for president [1:57:37] of the united states because i am not insane my first move was was to go to dc talk to our leaders [1:57:45] and say technology is ripping us apart immigrants are being scapegoated our kids are being left behind [1:57:51] and the american dream that my parents came here to find is dying before our eyes and the people in [1:57:56] washington dc had nothing for this they don't want to touch it they don't want to talk about an [1:58:02] issue they don't think they have a solution for i'm not running for president because i fantasized [1:58:06] about being president i'm running for president because like many of you here in this room tonight [1:58:11] i'm a parent and a patriot and i have seen the future that we're leaving for our kids and it is not [1:58:16] something i'm willing to accept we need to create a new way forward for our people if you want to join [1:58:23] us in rewriting the rules of the 21st century economy go to yang2020.com and make it so that we can [1:58:29] look our kids in the eyes and say to them and believe it your country loves you your country values you [1:58:37] and you will be all right thank you mr yang senator klubcher the nation was riveted this week by the [1:58:45] testimony in washington one of the people we heard from yesterday was lieutenant colonel videman and [1:58:52] what he said was he spoke to his immigrant father and he said in this country you can tell the truth [1:59:00] and it's going to be fine it reminded me of army council years and years ago in the mccarthy hearing [1:59:06] someone from iowa actually mr welch who said have you no sense of decency sir i want us to remember that [1:59:15] this election is yes an economic check on this president and i have bold ideas that we can do to [1:59:22] go forward as a country to make college more affordable and bring down the cost of health care [1:59:27] yes but this is also a patriotism check a value check a decency check and when you look at the [1:59:34] people that turned out in kentucky and turned out in virginia people turned out that didn't vote in [1:59:40] 2016 african americans are turning out like we didn't see before but we also and they must be with [1:59:47] us and we must get our fired up democratic base with us but we also let's get those independents [1:59:54] and moderate republicans who cannot stomach this guy anymore this is how we build a coalition so we [2:00:01] don't just beat donald trump we bring the u.s senate to some sense we send mitch mcconnell packing [2:00:08] this is how we win so if you want to join us and remember that this won't be for me a personal [2:00:14] victory it'll be a national victory of someone that wins in red districts and suburban purple districts [2:00:19] and bright blue districts every single time if you want to join us and you believe that our work [2:00:25] doesn't end on election day but begins on inauguration day join us amy klobuchar.com [2:00:31] senator klobuchar thank you senator harris so we're in a fight um this is a fight for our rule of law [2:00:43] for our democracy and for our system of justice and it's a fight we need to win and to fight this fight [2:00:52] i believe we have to have the ability to not only have a nominee who can go toe-to-toe with donald trump [2:01:00] and i have taken on jeff session i've taken on bill barr i've taken on brett kavanaugh i know i [2:01:06] have the ability to do that we also need someone who can unify the party and the country [2:01:12] and who has the experience of having done that i've done that work i believe we need someone who has [2:01:19] the ability to speak to all the people regardless of their race their gender their party affiliation [2:01:26] where they live geographically or the language their grandmother speaks my entire career has been [2:01:31] spent having one client and one client only the people i have never represented a corporation i've [2:01:38] never represented a special interest and in this election justice and the various injustices people [2:01:45] are facing regardless of where they live or their race or gender are very much on the ballot from [2:01:50] economic justice to reproductive justice to health care justice to educational justice [2:01:55] and i truly believe that when we overcome these injustices we will then unlock the potential of the [2:02:04] american people and the promise of america and that's the america i believe in that's the america i [2:02:11] see and that is why i'm running for president thank you senator harris mayor buddija go ahead well first [2:02:20] of all i want to remark that we're in the city of atlanta a city where a great local leader maynard [2:02:26] jackson helped create the black middle class that atlanta is known by by ensuring that taxpayer dollars [2:02:32] were spent in a way that reflected the need to expand opportunity to those who were excluded [2:02:38] and just as local leaders have shown great leadership we need to use the powers of the presidency [2:02:43] on challenges like this expanding opportunity and expanding a sense of belonging to those who have [2:02:49] been excluded in this country i'm not only running to defeat donald trump i am running to prepare for [2:02:56] the day that begins when donald trump has left office to launch the era that must come after trump [2:03:03] that era must be characterized not by exclusion but by belonging and so must our campaign i am inviting [2:03:12] progressives who have agreed on these issues we've been talking about tonight all along moderates who are [2:03:18] ready to be part of this coalition and a lot of future former republicans who i know are watching [2:03:25] this disgusted by what is happening in their own party and in this country i want you to know that [2:03:31] everybody is welcome in this movement that we're building and everybody is welcome in this future [2:03:36] that we must create i hope you go to pete for america.com join this effort and help us create a better [2:03:42] era for the american people beginning in november 2020 thank you senator sanders thank you let me say [2:03:51] a word about myself unusual as it may seem [2:03:59] i am the son of an immigrant young man of 17 who came to this country without a nickel in his pocket [2:04:09] i have some sense of the immigrant experience i will stand with the 11 million undocumented immigrants [2:04:15] in this country at the age of 21 as a member of a civil rights group at the university of chicago [2:04:23] i was arrested spent the night in jail and i have been committed to the fight against all forms of [2:04:30] discrimination racial discrimination sexism homophobia xenophobia and religious bigotry i will leave an [2:04:39] administration that will look like america will end the divisiveness brought by trump and bring us [2:04:46] together during this campaign i am proud to say that i have received more campaign contributions [2:04:55] contributions than any candidate at this point in an election in american history over four million [2:05:02] contributions averaging 18 a piece if you want to be part of a movement that is not only going to beat [2:05:12] trump but transform america that doesn't have a super pack doesn't do fundraisers at wealthy people's [2:05:20] home please join us at bernie sanders.com thank you senator warren the floor is yours [2:05:28] so thank you you know i listened to this debate tonight and i hear a lot of really good ideas [2:05:34] but i take a look at the issues we've talked about we've talked about climate change we've talked [2:05:39] about defense spending we've talked about private health insurance we should have talked about gun [2:05:44] violence what do these issues have in common well first they touch people all over this country in [2:05:50] their everyday lives and what is the second thing they have in common we know what we need to do we have [2:05:56] a lot of good ideas for how to fix it and the majority of americans are with us on it and yet we don't make [2:06:02] change why not because of corruption because we have a government that works better for big drug [2:06:11] companies than it does for people trying to fill a prescription it works better for a giant defense [2:06:17] industry than it does for everyone who worries about the money that goes into arms instead of into our [2:06:22] public schools we have a government that works for those at the top and not for anyone else i have [2:06:29] the biggest anti-corruption plan since watergate it involves ending lobbying as we know it blocking the [2:06:37] revolving door between industry and washington making everyone who runs for federal office put their [2:06:43] tax returns online we have to have the courage not to make just individual changes not to fight for [2:06:51] little pieces we want to make real progress on on climate then we have to start by attacking the [2:06:58] corruption that gives the oil industry and other fossil fuel industries a stranglehold over this country [2:07:05] i am so grateful to be here and i am grateful to an america that gave the daughter of a janitor [2:07:12] a chance to become a public school teacher a chance to become a college professor a chance to become a [2:07:18] united states senator and a chance to become a candidate for president of the united states thank you [2:07:23] thank you vice president biden your closing statement i assume when we're talking about the [2:07:32] corruption of the federal government we weren't talking about barack obama and his spotless [2:07:35] administration made so much progress but one thing we haven't talked about here today we haven't [2:07:42] talked we talked about everything we haven't talked about the one thing i think is most consequential [2:07:46] you know the american people have an enormous opportunity there's incredible incredible i've [2:07:53] never been more optimistic about our prospects in my entire career and i got elected as a 29 year old [2:07:58] kid to the united states senate folks we are in a position where we have we're the wealthiest nation [2:08:04] of the world our workers are more productive than workers around the world three times as productive [2:08:09] as workers in asia we have more great research universities as the people own than all the rest [2:08:14] of the world combined we're in a position where we've led not by the example of our power but by the [2:08:20] power of our example i'm so tired of everybody walking around like whoa is me what are we going to do [2:08:26] let's remember this is the united states of america there has never ever ever been a time when we've [2:08:34] set our mind to do something we've been unable to do it never never never so it's time to remember who [2:08:40] are get up let's take back this country and lead the world again it's within our power to do it get up and [2:08:48] take it back vice president biden thank you and let me take this opportunity to thank all of the [2:08:56] candidates for spirited and excellent debate well i want to thank all of you and i want to tell you [2:09:02] that on msnbc tonight my colleague brian williams is going to pick up our coverage in just a moment [2:09:07] i also before we go want to thank everybody here in the audience i want to thank the city of atlanta [2:09:12] and from all of us here at the Dallas thank you so much for watching good night