This is a bernie crowd. What is that . This is a bernie crowd. Senator sanders, thank you so much for joining us. I am going to kick us off and ask a question here. You have entered the field, one of the largest and most diverse fields of candidates to ever run for president on the democrat side, so what sets you apart, or why do you believe you are best suited to defeat donald trump . Sen. Sanders why dont you get to the point . [laughter] i will tell you why i believe i am best suited to defeat donald trump. And ier to defeat trump, know all of the polls out there say trump is going to be beaten, and they have me in front of him in pennsylvania, in wisconsin, battleground states. I think donald trump is good to be a tough opponent. I think he is a pathological liar. He will say anything, do anything. It is not going to be an easy campaign. I hope everybody understands this. There are a couple of reasons why i think i am the strongest candidate. We arer to beat trump, going to need a campaign of enthusiasm, excitement, and a campaign which brings out an enormously large voter turnout. I think our campaign is the kind of campaign that does it. We are a campaign that speaks to the needs of working people. The good news is that the Younger Generation today is the most progressive young generation in the history of our country. It is a generation that is all the thing that donald trump a spouses. That is the good news. If young people voted at the same type of level as older people voted, we could transform this country. Progress in 2018. Youngter turnout among people where the highest in 70 years. It was not good enough. About it campaign is will be to do everything i can to bring young people into the political process and that is terribly important. Second of all, there were many parts of this country where i won big in the democratic primary. Some think we can speak to Trump Supporters who now understand that he lied to them and he is a fraud. There are a lot of people out he is going to have a tax plan that is not going to help the wealthy. He lied about all of those things. I do not lie and i will speak to those working people. Think i am the strongest candidate. You recently spoke at a wall market shareholders meeting. Can you tell us a little more about that speech and what else you would like to do to improve the quality of life for workers in america . Sanders what i would like to do is talk about issues that most people know to be true but you dont hear about them. What is the issue . The major crisis facing people right now is you have more than half of our all working at jobs that force them to live paycheck to paycheck. I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck. Do not know what this is about. It means that if your car breaks down and you need a 500 repair, you may not have that. What happens . You cannot get your car repaired and you cannot get to work. Then you get fired. Then you cant put food on the table. Half of workers in america are living under that kind of stress. That is by life expectancy, one of the reasons, here in america is in the u. S. Is in the decline. In my mind, raising the living and the wealthiest country in the history of the world, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty. That is not a radical idea. I was asked by workers to go there. I did not just pop in there. Raised andthat we the quite amazing Walton Family owns walmart. The wall and family happens to be the wealthiest family in america. And you would think that a family worth one edges 75 billion would be able to pay its workers a living wage. But instead, many of the walmart workers making 11 are 11 or on an hour are forced to go have the absurdity and it is the same issue there and there have been heroines all over the country. You talked about how this andration is a most diverse aggressive that have ever existed. A lot of folks think it is time for a different generation of political leadership. How do you respond to certain time forat say it is younger leadership . I think, and maybe it is selfserving i think it is not just the age of a person or the color of a persons skin or their gender, it is what a person believes him. What we want is our government and the Business Community to reflect the realities in the of the we want half people or more who were elected to office to be represented. For is what we are striving but it is not good enough. Sayt into trouble when i and there are probably people look out right now at a record which is one of the most progressive records in congress. Look at someone that opened up a debate that did not previously exist. Aboute not talking medicare for all five years ago. Many of the ideas that i brought forth, people in new shire and iowa this is a lively crowd. That is a beautiful segue into my next question. It seems like president ial candidates are having a conversation about issues progressive have progressives have cared about for a long time. Large thank you for moving the Democrat Democratic Party in that direction. I have three issues. We are just now having a conversation about the legalization of marijuana in the thousands of individuals behind who have been arrested and prosecuted for petty marijuana crimes. Tom hussey codes may have penned the most compelling argument i have read. Candidatesd a few talk about the case for reparations. Issue i would talk about is universal health care and universal education. Reparations, health care and education. What are your thoughts on those issues . Sanders first of all, i am proud that clutch of years ago when i talked about the need to aing fundamental reform very broken criminal Justice System. If we are going to deal with criminal justice, we have to end the socalled war on drugs and i pulled for the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. And im happy to say that in my state and states all over the country we are seeing real butress in that direction we are also seeing some communities expunging the record of people arrested for the possession of marijuana which i think is a major step forward. Issue is point on this i think a valid point. Your we are seeing maybe, weaybe just should look to the people who deserve toost be able to make some money from what is now legal. There thinks that we can do about that. Let me say a word about reparations. What i support is congressman jim clyburn of South Carolina has an idea. In the think is perhaps general sense the best way forward. Is that 10 of federal funding should be going to those communities in america which have seen longterm poverty in america. Words, what we have to do right now is poor federal ding into the most thoseities to make sure kids get the education they need. Wealth care they need have for a variety of reasons have got to do everything we can to address the incredible racial inequities that exist in this country. Black businesses cannot get the loans that they need. I think we have to pay special attention it ties into the whole criminal Justice System of kids that do not have jobs. The last point you raised we have more people in jail than it costsuntry more money to lock up a person here in iowa than to send them to the university of iowa. I would rather send our young people to college than lock,. So on that issue im working with people all over to get real criminal Justice Reform where we invest in our people. And as president i will significantly reduce the number of people who are in jail today. We will end mass incarceration. The last issue. Is an issue that impacts every man, woman, and child in this country and it is an issue about health care. And it raises a couple of basic points. Do we believe that health care is a human right or do we not. Righteve it is a human and that the United States should join every other major ntry on earth guaranteeing i live 50 miles away from canada. I am proud that ive introduced the major medicare for all legislation in the senate. Poll after poll shows a majority of americans support medicare for all and when we talk about the current dysfunctional Healthcare System people say, how can you afford health care for all . How Many Americans know that we are spending twice as much per person on health care as do the people of any other country. About 11,000 per person. Why is that . The answer is obvious. What is the function of the Current Health care system . It is to make enormous profits for the Insurance Industry and the pharmaceutical industry. The drugrms of companies, they are probably the most greedy entities and this by far therging us highest prices for prescription drugs. Last year, top 10 Drug Companies made 69 billion in profit. If you are a Senior Citizen in iowa or in vermont or anywhere else, and you are cutting your bills in half because you cannot in half,ills understand that we are going to take on the Drug Companies. You just got me going on this issue. I have one that is kind of related. Not to be a bummer. There are democrats and republicans alike concerned about how you might get budget with a Republicancontrolled Senate . Sanders i am a different type of candidate. Politics isnd different than many other people. Else, to berybody honest. And this is what i believe. And it is kind of a radical idea. I believe and have always believed that real change, real topge, never comes from the down. It does not come from the senate come of house, or the president. Real change comes from the bottom up. It comes when millions of people stand up and look around and say that the status quo is unacceptable and we are going to change it. That is the history of the labor movement. The history of the civil rights movement. It is a history of the womens movement. History of the gay movement. The history of the him by her Mental Movement and many other movements. Millions of people say this is unacceptable. Women will have the right to vote. As will africanamericans. Gay people will be able to marry whoever they want regardless of their gender. When people begin to stand up and fight for those human rights , change takes place. Your question, as a president , i would do things differently than other president s. And it is not just the agenda i would be fighting for. It is that i would be going to the american people, coming back to iowa and saying, we have got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. You may have senators not prepared to vote for that. To raise theelp minimum wage. I know, i have talked to republicans, we have to change the dynamics of american politics today. That means we need an unprecedented Grassroots Movement that demands that government represents all of us and not just the 1 . Bring aboutyou change as president is to go to the people and demand that they stand up and fight for the ideas they believe in. Senator sanders you mentioned in 2016 that you won states like michigan and Hillary Clinton lost that state in the general election. Of folks look at that and see what contributed to that like racism,gs scapegoating, and he you think there is an argument to be made are therethat arguments to be made to that type of voter . Senator sanders it is no question that some of the people who voted for trump are sexist, racist, xina folks, and homophobes. Believe there are a lot of people who are not. A lot of people voted for obama and voted for trump. Let me Say Something that is controversial. More tweets will go out but i think that for too long, the Democratic Party has ignored the pain that workingclass people come a wife blacks, and latinos americans and native are experiencing. Earlier, let us say you are unhappy with the status quo. You are making nine dollars an hour. Let us say you cannot afford to send your cute to college or afford health care. Donald trump comes along and says i hear your pain. I am tired of the political elite who are not helping you. Im going to help you. Im going to give you health care for all and create jobs. Some people voted for him based on that. You do not accept that all trump andorters are racists homophobes. Some are. I believe there are a lot of people in pain. I have been to iowa many times and have talked to people here that make nine dollars an hour trying to raise a family. You cannot do that. And iowa went to donald trump. I spoke to people that cannot support their medicine im he cannot of cannot afford their medicine. I think you can get some of them. Have taken a we giant step back on issues of race. What would a Sanders Administration do in terms of progress on racism . Sanders let us be clear and it is hard to believe that i have to say this. We have a president of the u. S. Who is racist. There is no way to push that under the rug. He was the leader or one of them of the burglar movement. Delegitimize the first africanamerican president we ever had. That is a grotesque thing to do. Let us be clear. Not smartmp is enough, he is not stupid but not smart enough to have come up with this whole political theory himself. What is the theory . Blamea theory that you minorities who dont have a lot of political power for all of the problems. You dont have any health care. It is the immigrants fault. You are not moving up the leader , it is her fault. Etc. Nothing no. That is what demographic demagogues always do. What Donald Trumps political strategy is is to divide us up based on the color of our skin, based on where we were born, based onur religion our Sexual Orientation and even our gender. He thinks will win him reelection. And our campaign is doing exactly the opposite. We are bringing people together around an aggressive agenda. I want to leave some time for you to take questions from the audience. If we can, i want to go rapidfire in these last few questions. Senator sanders rapid is a relative term. If we dont do it quickly, misty will be upset with me and we dont want that. Do you believe russia meddled in our elections . Senator sanders absolutely. Hubley the u. S. Congress should be begin the process of impeaching the president of the United States . I believe the house should begin impeachment inquiry inquiries. We have to expose donald trump, but we cannot lose sight of the needs of the american people. Nancy pelosi does not have an easy job. Of chewingstion bubblegum and walking at the same time. Dealing with the issues that working people desperately want to have dealt with while at the same time holding this lawless president accountable. [applause] goodrry david does a impersonation of you. How would you rate his performance . You did not know that i am larry davis. I told you. I am hard to impersonate him but i have been trying. Green new deal, do you support it . Sen. Sanders absolutely. An outlineew deal is and we have to fill in a lot of the issues but here is the issue. Dangerous views of the reality is the scientists have made it clear that known that not only is ismate change real but it causing devastating problems and is caused by human activity. The Scientific Community has told us we have left than 12 years to act boldly and transform our Energy System away from fossil fuel or else there will be irreparable damage to the country to this country and the entire world. There is no middle ground on this one. We have to be bold and take on the fossil fuel industry. Job has done a commendable 35 of your electricity is from wind. That is good but we have to more all over the country. I have seven very beautiful grandchildren and it is unthinkable that we could leave this planet to future generations in a way that is unhealthy and uninhabitable. This is a moral imperative and we have to be extremely bold and taking on the fossil fuel industry. [applause] there has been a surge of laws that severely restrict womens reproductive rights. Particularly our neighbor missouri just past and egregious one. What would you do to protect reproductive autonomy for women . Sen. Sanders this to me is incomprehensible that you have politicians who think they have the right to tell a woman what she can do with her own body. That is an outrage. And i will do everything that i legislation tol making it very clear. Awas asked recently if i have litmus test for Supreme Court nominees and i do. I will never nominate anyone who is not 100 in favor of roe v. Wade. And as we engage in this struggle, i want the men to understand that this is not just omans issue but an impact but in issue that impacts all of us and now is the time for men do stand with women on this important struggle. As our volunteers come to the front to help operate the , senator youanswer will have people lining up in the aisles to answer questions. One of the things id like to ask all of the folks that come if you could is, have a direct line to all of the andg people in this country you could give them a piece of advice, what advice would you give them or what would you say to them. What i would say to them is that you are far more powerful than the establishment allows you to think you are. Say,f any of your friends i am busy and do not want to get involved in politics, tell them that you are tired of hearing them complain about the high cost of college and the student debt that they have, tell them you are tired of hearing them that they cannot afford health care or prescription drugs. Tell them to think big and not small. Can imagineat they the kind of world they live in and do not believe what is on tv or in the newspapers. We have to think small. We cannot think small. Health care is a human rights. We can do it. We can bring countries together to fight climate change. Do not think small, think big in creating the world that we deserve. Ladies and gentlemen, senator bernie sanders. We will start here on the right. Hello, i m meredith and i meant aclu rights for all voter. Thank you for already talking about womens reproductive rights and i have a followup question. Accesse amendment blocks to abortion for lowincome women and folks that cannot pay out of pocket. Will you commit to abolishing the Hyde Amendment . Sen. Sanders yes. I, that is how i voted my entire life. Your point is well taken. If we believe a woman has her right to control her own body, that means all women including women of low income. Senator sanders, my name is adam and i have a question for you regarding Mental Health. I lost my best friend to suicide by firearm five years ago. He battled schizophrenia. What are your thoughts on Mental Health . Sen. Sanders thank you for raising that issue. We have a terrible Mental Health crisis in this country. Terrible. I will tell you a story. Said to myled up and staff, i am terribly worried tout what my brother will do himself or someone else. We cannot find the counseling that we need. When i talk about a medicare for all Single Player singlepayer, we are talking , mentalking Health Care Health and counseling care available to all. , ahello, i am greg chong firstgeneration american citizen. , do you trade war support a comprehensive trade policy that does not send American Workers to a race to the bottom . Sen. Sanders i certainly do. I helped lead the effort against your point is well taken. We need a trade policy not based but it hass tweets to be comprehensive and working closely with other countries. It should not be a race to the bottom. We should not allow corporations in this country to throw on the street. S we have to do everything we can to protect the low income developing countries as well. We have to talk about environmental protection. Labor protection. To answer your question, i agree with your analysis. Protect not just the companies that have historically written the trade bills but all workers around the world. Thank you for that question. You, my name is mike and i am a professional sustainable environmental activist. We are number one in iowa in soy, corn, and hogs. Our farmers have lost money for five years. We use industrial agriculture which is destroying our water and soil. How will you address these concerns . Sen. Sanders thank you very much. One of the issues that is not when you very much is have just spoken about. And i come from one of the most rural states in america. Dairy farms are getting destroyed. Heart. Ks my we are losing farmers every week. The first thing we have to do is recognize that Rural America is in crisis. Secondly, we have to make sure that farmers get a fair price for their crops. Handful of Huge Companies who are buying the product. There is not the competition that should be out there. I will appoint an attorney general who knows something about monopoly and is prepared to break them up. Right, it is an environmental disaster. I have seen how animals are treated. As human beings, we have to things with aving minimum amount of respect. Hello, bernie, i am sam. Extend the all of branch the all of be theve branch and bigger person was a hard pill to swallow. Why do you think you cannot win off ballot because im pretty sure i can spell your name . Sen. Sanders is a question that i should not run as a democrat. And you get cheated out of the nomination and i would hate to see you endorse joe biden. Sen. Sanders number one, i do not intend to get cheated and number two, i intend to win this thing. Thank you. And one of the things that happened last time and where we are making some progress is last caucusefore the first took place right here in iowa, 500pponent already had some superdelegates lined up. That does not sound too much like democracy to me. That is before the first caucus took place in new hampshire. Workresult of a a lot of on the part of people in this room and elsewhere, we have changed that. Not as far as i would like but right now, superdelegates will not be voting on the first ballot and that is significant. Second of all, in states like an insaneyou had situation, undemocratic, where if you were an independent, you had to change your registration six months before the primary. Six months. That has been changed as well in new york state. I think were making some progress in making the Democratic Party more democratic and we are going to do everything we can to create a democratic Democratic Party. And i think in that process we will win this thing with your help. Thank you. Senator sanders, thank you for being here. A question that gets at your leadership style. The presidency is an executive job. Can you tell me about a situation when you disagreed with a subordinate of yours . And which avenger is your favorite . Sen. Sanders no comments on avenger. I was a mayor for eight years. That is my executive experience. City, a few hundred Million Dollar budget and we had a lot of employees. Leadership isf the following. Anyonehat i believe that gethas a good idea should that idea up the totem pole. Staff very often, if you have 10 ideas and nine of them are not good, that is great but ring them up. And that is one of the reasons , but wescussed walmart also want to put workers on boards because i think they can have good ideas about how companies can be run better. I am not into topdown leadership. I want to hear what people have to say and this is a problem promise that i make. That my administration will look like america in all of its diversity. , and i hopeeader that i am, takes the best leader the best ideas. Iowa,you for coming to senator. Israel andle east, palestine is an issue that has been there since 1949 and before and i would like to know what you intend to do if you are oneident for equanimity in standard of justice for all in this conflict and what you would do to ensure palestinian human rights are recognized and their absolute right to have the same rights as anybody else, anywhere in the world, which is not the case right now . Thank you. Distressing it is that you ask that question. Because i think i was one of the First National leaders to say, you know what . I think the United States should have an evenhanded approach towards the middle east. You cannot just be 100 proisrael. I believe, absolutely as someone that lived in israel for a while , as a kid, i believe 100 that israel must have the right to exist in peace and security. No debate about that. Ignore theot suffering of the Palestinian People. If you think there is going to be peace in the middle east when 60 oryment in gaza is 70 and people cannot leave the Community Come you have another guess coming. The United States is the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth that we should use our resources and strength to bring these people together. And by the way, i should also tell you, that the leadership in israel is not the leadership i would like to see nor is it in the palestinian community. We have got to do the best that we can to end, you are right, this has gone on for decade after decade after decade, and it wont be easy and i have no magic answers, but at the very least, people of the world need to know that the United States is evenhanded and will treat the Palestinian People with dignity and respect and bring them to the table with israeli leadership. [indiscernible] you spoke to it. We will take this question here. Senator sanders, patrick kaufman, cedar rapids, born and raised. Minimumion is about the wage. How do you expect to approach a 15 minimum living wage, more than double the federal rate without losing their jobs. Walmart has self checkout. Mcdonalds already has self kiosks. There haves i think been a number of studies that would suggest that that does not take place. The other side of the coin is that if someone is now making periodhour, and over a of years, they make 15 an hour, that person now has more spending money to go out to a restaurant and purchase products they could not before and that in turn creates jobs. Here is the bottom line. The bottom line is that in the riches country in the history of notworld, people should have to spend 50 of their income on housing. People should be able to afford to purchase their food. They should be able to go on vacation now and then. 15 an hour is not a lot of money but you have to have that. 15 per hourying tomorrow. Period of 45 years. At the end of the day, as i said earlier, if you work fulltime in america, you should have a minimum level of security. That is my answer. Thank you, senator sanders. My name is laura bell and ive a question about the mueller report. What percentage of that report have you read . I you looking to read more of it . And if you were to cite one thing out of there that gave you the greatest level of concern, what would that be . Robert mueller left in doubt the issue of obstruction of justice. He thought that was something that congress should take a look at. That would be a major concern and i hope the congress will do that. Judiciarys what the committee i hope and expect will do. Also indicated, i think the how should begin impeachment proceedings right now. [indiscernible] sen. Sanders i did not read all of it but essential parts of it. And gentlemen, thank you for joining us. Senator sanders, we know how crazy busy you are and we appreciate you coming on the show. Me say this. Let i understand one of your goals is to get young people involved in the process. Then i congratulate you because you are doing some of the most important work that is to be done. Thank you. [applause] [cheering and applause] folks, as you file out, please keep in mind that this is an all volunteer effort. If you have any change left over and you want to contribute, we would be most grateful. I would like to give another shout out to coe college for letting us use this space. Kforce cspan for covering this live, and for everyone else that makes this happen, thank you very much. Hopefully, we will see many of you tomorrow night in iowa city for our interview with senator cory booker. Thank you very much. And have a good evening. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] next, your calls and contacts on washington journal. After that, the former u. S. Ambassador is the guest speaker at the Susan B Anthony gallo. Gala. Watch live coverage of the 2020 democratic president ial candidates in iowa on cspan. At eight 45, we are with cory booker. 3 00 p. M. ,day at democratic president ial candidates at the hall of fame celebration in cedar rapids. Speakers include pete buttigieg, kamala harris, amy klobuchar, beto orourke, and elizabeth warren. Watch our coverage in iowa this weekend on cspan. Watch any on cspan. Org, or app. N with this morning carl discusses his new report on former members of congress who end up employed as lobbyist. Then the nation that destination magazine contributor looks at the treatment of prisoners. And then luke from the group sm