Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 The PBS NewsHour POLITICO Democratic Debate 20240713

Yang, south bend, indiana mayor pete buttigieg, massachusetts senator elizabeth warren, former Vice President joe biden, vermont senator bernie sanders, minnesota senator amy klobuchar, and businessman tom steyer. Welcome to all. We will be back to begin the debate. American workers are being stifled. It has to end. We are the only major country not to guarantee health care for all people. That is what it takes to be part of americas middleclass. Everybody deserves a living wage in this country. The proposals i am putting forward would make me the most progressive president in my lifetime. If people are tired of our politics, they have a home with me. We have a broken government in washington, d. C. We need a new voice and a new set of solutions. Announcer this is the pbs newshourpolitico democratic debate. Live from los angeles, judy woodruff. Judy welcome back. A quick reminder of the rules. Each candidate has one minute and 15 seconds to answer direct questions from moderators. And 45 seconds to answer rebuttal and followup questions. Tonights podium order on the stage was determined by an polls. Of recent and lets begin. Night the house of representatives voted for the third time to impeach the president. Every one of you was in favor of the impeachment, but unlike 1974 and president nixon, Congressional Democrats have so far not convinced a Strong Majority of americans to support the impeachment of President Trump. Why do you think that is, and what can you say or do differently in the coming weeks to persuade more americans that this is the right thing to do . I want all of you to respond, but to begin with Vice President biden. Fmr. Vp biden judy, it was a constitutional necessity for the house to act as it did. The trump response suggests only half the American People want to see him thrown out of office now. I find is dumbing down the presidency. Is it any wonder that when you look at international polling, that the chinese leader is rated above the american president . Or that Vladimir Putin congratulated him, staying steadfast, and in fact it was a mistake to impeach him . You know, we need to restore the integrity of the presidency, the office of the presidency. And it is about time to get that underway. My job, and the job of all of us up here, thats not true, some are going to be voting in the senate, but my job is to make a case why he doesnt deserve to be president of the United States for another four years. Senator sanders. Why do you think more people are not in favor of impeaching the president , and what can you do . Sen. Sanders we have a president who is a pathological liar. We have a president running the most corrupt administration in the modern history of this country, and we have a president who is a fraud, because during his campaign he told working people one thing and he ended up doing Something Else. I believe, and i will personally be doing this in the coming weeks and months, is making the case that we have a president who has sold out the working families of this country, who wants to cut Social Security, medicare, and medicaid, after he promised he would not do that, and who has documentedly lied thousands of times since he was president. And the case to be made, yes, i disagree with trump on virtually all his policies. But conservatives, i think, understand is that we cannot have a president with that temperament who is dishonoring the presidency of the United States. [applause] judy senator warren, why do you think more americans agree that dont agree that this is the right thing to do . Senator warren i see this as a constitutional moment. Last night the president was impeached. Everyone in the senate took an oath to uphold our constitution. That doesnt mean loyalty to an individual. It doesnt mean loyalty to a political party. It means loyalty to our country. And that vote will play out over the next several weeks. But the way i see this is we have now seen the impact of corruption, and that is clearly on the stage in 2020. Is how we are going to line up against the most corrupt president in living history . This president has made corruption originally his argument, that he would drain the swamp. And yet he came to washington, broke that promise, and has done everything he can for the wealthy and the wellconnected, from tax breaks to ambassadorships. We have to prosecute the case against him, and that means we need a candidate for president who can draw the sharpest distinction between the corruption of the Trump Administration and a democrat who is willing to get out and fight, not for the wealthy and the wellconnected, but to fight for everyone else. That is why i am in this race. Judy senator klobuchar, what argument can you make to persuade more americans this is the right thing . Sen. Klobuchar the president is not a king. The law is king. With James Madison once said when he was speaking out at the Constitutional Convention and by the way he was a good size for president. He was 54. And he said the reason we have the impeachment articles in the constitution is that he feared a president would betray the trust of the American People for a foreign power. That is what happened here. This is a global watergate. In the case of watergate, a paranoid president look for dirt on a political opponent. He did it by getting people to break in. This president did it by calling a foreign leader to look for dirt on a political opponent. I would make this case. As he faces trial in the senate, if the president claims he is so innocent, then why doesnt he have all the president s men testify . Richard nixon had his top people testify. We should be hearing from mick mulvaney, witnesses have said he is the one who said we are going to withhold the aid to a fledgling democracy to get dirt on a political opponent. We should hear from bolton. He told his own staff to go see a lawyer after they met with the president. That is the case. If President Trump thinks that he should not be impeached, he should not be scared to put forward his own witnesses. Judy mayor buttigieg, what additional argument can you make to the American People . Mayor buttigieg this is beyond public opinion, beyond polls, this is beyond politics. The president left the house with no choice. I think a lot of us are watching this process, watching washington go through the motions, and not expecting much but a foregone conclusion when it gets to the senate. But we cant give in to that sense of helplessness, because that is what they want. They want us to be taken in by that cynicism to where we give up on the process altogether. Meanwhile, their allies are laughing all the way to the bank as we see policies that let giant corporations, some of which made billions in profits, not just pay zero, but as we recently learned, negative taxes, all while they blocked policies that actually boost wages for working americans. Heres the good news. It is up to us. No matter what happens in the senate, it is up to us in 2020. This is our chance to refuse to be taken in by the helplessness, to refuse and reject the cynicism. That is what this president ial election is about. It is what my campaign is about, our opportunity in 2020 no matter what happens in washington, as a country, to change the course of this nation for the better. Judy mr. Yang, what more can you say to the American People . Mr. Stier judy, judy over here. Judy mr. Stier. Im sorry. Mr. Steyer im the person who started the need to Impeach Movement over two years ago. [applause] because i believe what counts is actually the American Peoples opinion. Over 8. 5 million signed that petition and dragged washington into the idea that actually the most corrupt president in American History, its not a question of political expediency. Its not a question of political tactics. It is a question of right and wrong. So now when we look at what is going on, i agree with senator klobuchar. The question is whether we want the American People to understand what is going on. We need to have Administration Officials testified on tv so we can judge. The court that counts is the court of public opinion. The American People deserve to see the truth of these Administration Officials testifying under oath, so we can make up our mind. If we want republican senators to do the right thing, we need their constituents to see the truth on tv and tell them, get rid of this guy, or we will get rid of you. That is what i believe in. Im a believer in the grassroots, as an outsider, getting the American Peoples voice to count. That is who i trust. [applause] judy mr. Yang. Mr. Yang its clear why americans cant agree on impeachment. We get our news from different sources that make it hard for us to even agree on basic facts. The congressional Approval Rating last night i checked, it was Something Like 17 . Americans dont trust the Media Networks to tell the truth. The Media Networks didnt do us any favor by missing the reason why donald trump came president in the first place. If you turn on Cable Network news today, you would think he is president because of some combination of russia, racism, facebook, Hillary Clinton and emails mixed together. But americans around the country no different know different. He blasted away 4 Million Manufacturing jobs are merrily based in ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, missouri. I just left iowa. We blasted 40,000 manufacturing jobs there. The more we act like donald trump is the cause of all our problems, the more americans lose trust that we can see what is going on in our communities and solve those problems. What we have to do is we have to stop being obsessed over impeachment, which strikes Many Americans like a ball game where you know what the score is going to be, and start solving the problems that got donald trump elected in the first place. We have to take every opportunity to present a new and positive vision for the country, a new way forward. A new way to beat him in 2020, because make no mistake, he will be there at the ballot box for us to defeat. [applause] judy thank you, mr. Yang. Lets turn to an issue that is on the minds of all americans, and that is the economy. Senator sanders, today the house of representatives voted for a new, bipartisan trade agreement among the United States, canada and mexico. , it was supported by unionfriendly leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and big labor groups like the aflcio. They say it is going to be a big job creator. Senator, my question is will you support this deal, and if not, why not . Sen. Sanders judy, you are talking to somebody, unlike some of my colleagues here, who voted against nafta, voted against pncr with china, to agreements that cost us over 4 million decentpaying jobs. I dont agree people think this is going to be a great job creator. This is a modest improvement over what we have right now. It would allow, hopefully, mexican workers to organize into unions, independent unions, and to be able to negotiate decent contracts. But at the end of the day, in my view, it is not going to stop outsourcing. It is not going to stop corporations from moving to mexico, where manufacturing workers make less than two dollars an hour. What we need is a trade policy that stands up for workers, stands up for farmers, and by the way, the word Climate Change, to the best of my knowledge, is not discussed in this new nafta agreement at all, which is an outrage. So no, i will not be voting for this agreement, although it makes some modest improvements. Judy senator klobuchar. Sen. Klobuchar i have a different view. My friend Sherrod Brown has voted against every trade agreement that has come in front of him, and he is voting for this, and i am too. I believe we have a change with this agreement. I would not have voted for the agreement President Trump put forward, but we have better labor standards, better environmental standards, and a better deal when it comes to the pharmaceutical provision, which i also opposed. 95 of our customers are outside our borders. We have to make sure we have trade agreements that are more fair, because if we can encourage work made in america, every time you hold something in your hand that says made in america, it is the ingenuity of our workers, it is the quality of our product, the quality of our workers, and it is the hopes and dreams of the American People. This agreement, while senator sanders is correct, there are some issues with it, it is much better than the one originally proposed. And for those farmers in the midwest and for people who have been hurt by the fact we will not have a trade segment with mexico and canada and the United States, i think this is a much better deal. Judy i see some other hands up. I want to move to the next question. You can bring in, i think, your point with this. This will be addressed to Vice President joe biden initially. The overall u. S. Economy looks strong. Unemployment is at historic lows, unemployment among africanamericans is down, the markets are booming, and wages, while not growing as much as many would like, are still growing are still doing about as well as they were in the obamabiden era. My question to you, mr. Biden, what is your argument to the voter watching this debate tonight who may not like everything President Trump does, but they like this economy and they dont know why they should make a change . Biden i dont think they really do like the economy. Talk to the old neighbors in the middle class neighborhoods you grew up in. The middleclass is getting crushed, getting killed, and the working class has no way up as a consequences. Farmers in the midwest, 40 couldnt pay their bills last year. Most americans, if they receive a bill for 400 or more, they would have to sell something or borrow the money. The middle class is behind the eight ball. We have to make sure they have an even shot. We have to eliminate these godawful tax cuts given to the very wealthy. We have to invest in education, and health care, invest in those things that make a difference in the lives of middleclass people so they can maintain their standard of living. That is not being done, and the idea that we are growing, we are not growing. The very wealthy are growing. Ordinary people are not growing. They are not happy with where they are. That is why we must change this presidency now. [applause] judy mayor buttigieg, is that your assessment . Mayor buttigieg yes. Where i live, folks arent measuring the economy by how the dow jones is looking. They are measuring the economy by how they are doing. When you do the bills at the end of the month that your kitchen table, if you find your wages have gone up, it is not going up nearly as enough as the cost of health, or a house. The economy is not working for most of us, the middle class, and i know you are not supposed to say middleclass not working for most of us, the middle class, and i know you are not supposed to say the poor in politics, but we have to talk about poverty. There is not one county in the usa where someone working fulltime at minimum wage can afford a twobedroom apartment. In most places, not even a one bedroom apartment read the biggest problem in our economy is simple. People are not getting paid enough. That is not the result of some mysterious cosmic force, it is a result of bad policy. We have to change it by raising wages and empowering workers. [applause] judy mr. Yang . Mr. Yang gdp and corporate profits are at record highs in america. Also at record highs depression, financial insecurity, Student Loan Debt. Even suicides and drug overdoses. It has gotten so bad our Life Expectancy is a country has declined for the last three years because suicides and drug overdoses have overtaken vehicle deaths for the first time in American History. The fact is the Unemployment Rate and gdp have little relationship to peoples living experience on the ground. If you are a recent college graduate, you have a 40 chance of getting a job that doesnt require a college degree. That doesnt show up in a headline on the Unemployment Rate, nor does all the families working to do three jobs three jobs to get by. Judy senator warren, i have a question for you. Go ahead. Sen. Warren i want to answer this question. Im proud to stand on the stage with democrats who understand that a gdp end rise in corporate profits is not being felt by millions of americans across the country. I am proud to stand on the stage with people who see that americas middle class is being hollowed out and that working families and poor people are being left behind. But we need to talk about why that has happened. And the answer is, weve got a government that works great for those with money, and doesnt work for much of anyone else. We have a government that works great for giant Drug Companies just not trying to fill a , prescription. Works great for people who want to make money off private prisons and private Detention Centers at our borders, just not for the people whose lives are torn apart. Works great for giant Oil Companies that want to drill everywhere, but not for the rest of us who see Climate Change bearing down upon us. And when you see a government that works great for the wealthy and the wellconnected and no one else, that is corruption pure and simple, and we need to call it out for what it is. [applause] [crowd cheering] judy senator sanders, a brief response. Then i have another question. Sen. Sanders trump goes around saying the economy is doing great. You know what . You know what real inflation accounting for wages last year went up 1. 1 . That isnt great. The night three people on more health than the bottom half of america. 500,000 americans, including 30,000 veterans, are sleeping on the streets. Today in america we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth. More income and wealth inequality since the 1920s. We need then economy that works for working families, not just the 1 . That is what our campaign is about. [applause] have aenator warren, i question for you. Every candidate on the stage has imposed a tax increases on the wealthy, but you have an especially ambitious plan, where to hike taxes and additional 8 trillion over the decade, the biggest tax increase since world war ii. How do you answer Top Economists who say taxes of this magnitude would stifle growth and investment . Senator warren they are just wrong. [laughter and applause] lets start with the wealth tax. The idea of a two cent tax on the great fortunes in this country, 50 million and above. For two cents, what can we do . We can invest in the rest of america. We can provide universal childcare, Early Childhood education, for every baby in this country ages zero to five. Universal prek for every threeyearold and fouryearold, and raise the wages of every childcare worker and preschool teacher. We can do even more for Public Schools, for College Graduates we can cancel Student Loan Debts. But think about the economic impact. Two cents with the billionaires, they are not eating more pizza or buying more cars. We invested that two cents in Early Childhood education and child care that means those babies get topnotch care. It means their moms can finish their education. It means their mamas and daddies can take on real jobs, harder jobs, longer hours, and we can increase productivity in this country and Start Building this economy from the ground up. That is how we build it in small towns, that is how we build it in rural america, and that is how we built it in urban america, off an economy that doesnt work just for wall street, but works for all. Judy brief responses from mr. Stier and mr. Buttigieg. Mr. Steyer i agree with senator warren in much of what she says. I have been for a wealth tax for over a year. Im in favor of undoing all the tax breaks for rich people and big corporations this administration has put through. In addition, i have talked about taxes on passive investment income, which would allow us to cut taxes for 95 of americans by 10 . There is Something Else here that is really important. We know mr. Trump is going to run on the economy. I built a business over 30 years from scratch. We are going to have to take him on, on the economy, in terms of growth and economic justice. We have to be able to talk about growth and prosperity across the board for everyone in america. My experience, understanding how that can happen, means i can go toe to toe with mr. Trump and take him down on the economy, and expose him as a fraud and failure. And i think that is different from the other people on this stage. We need a different, unconventional way of attacking a different, unconventional president to actually went after the bestprepared candidate American History and beat her. , mayor buttigieg right now we are offered a false choice. You have to either go all the way to the extreme, or business as usual. Idease must deliver big and taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations will have to go up. We have to make sure they are promises we can keep without taxation that economists say will hurt the economy. It is why i have proposed we make college free for 80 of americans, but it doesnt have to be free for the top. If you are in the top 10 , you pay your own tuition and we save those dollars for Something Else that we could spend them on that would make a big difference. Whether it is infrastructure, childcare, housing, health. On issue after issue, we have to break out of the washington mindset that measures the bigness of an idea by have any idea by how many trillions of dollars it adds to the budget, or the boldness of an idea by have any fellow americans it can antagonize. Judy we will take a short break and be right back with questions from my fellow moderators. Announcer live from los angeles, the pbs newshourpolitical political debate continues once again, judy woodruff. Judy welcome back to the pbs newshourpolitico democratic president ial candidates debate. Tim senator klobuchar, many Scientists Say even if the u. S. Reduced its Carbon Footprint to zero by 2050, the damage will have been done, Climate Change will have made certain places in the u. S. Unlivable. Knowing this, would you support a new federal program to subsidize the relocation of American Families and businesses away from places like miami or paradise, california, davenport, iowa, because we know these places are going to be hit time and again. Senator klobuchar i hope we wont have to relocate entire cities, but we will have to relocate individual residents. The problem right now is this Climate Change is an existential crisis. You are seeing it here in california with the fires you just had. You saw it in Northern California in paradise, and the most moving video from that was second video of that dad driving his little girl through the fire, with his neighborhood burning behind him, and singing to her to calm her down. We cant wait to act. That greatsaying leaders make decisions for this generation great decisions not just for this generation, but for seven generations from now. The president cant make his decisions for seven minutes. The agreement on international Climate Change, day one. On day two, gas standards. The governor of california is working so hard on those and gets defied every step by the Trump Administration. And then introducing sweeping legislation to put a price on carbon and build a bridge to the next century. Which means we must upgrade our buildings and our building standards. Tim mr. Steyer, would you support a new federal program to help subsidize the relocation of these families . Mr. Steyer im hoping we will do what im suggesting, declare a state of emergency on day one of my presidency. [applause] i believe im the only person here who will say unequivocally, this is my numberone priority. I know we have to deal with this crisis. I know we have to deal with it from the standpoint of environmental justice. Ive been working on this for more than a decade. Ive taken on oil company hasnt Oil Companies and beaten them on environment laws. I pushed clean energy, prevented pipelines and prevented fossil fuel plants. But what i know is this. Not only we can clean up the air and water in black and brown communities where pollution is concentrated, this is the opportunity to create millions of middleclass, union jobs , wellpaid, across the United States. Our biggest crisis is our biggest opportunity. And if we dont glare a state of dont declare a state of emergency on day one, i dont understand how we go to people around the world, to lead the coalition that has to happen, and that only america can lead. This is a generational question. I have a lot of respect for the people on this stage. I know everybody is worried about this. I would call on mayor buttigieg to prioritize this higher, because people of his generation understand this is a crisis right now, but also the greatest opportunity to rebuild america. Mayor buttigieg i have made clear this will be a topic of day action, and this is not one theoretical. I live in one of those river cities you are talking about. I live right by the river. My neighborhood flooded in the second of two once in a millennium floods that we had. In two years. Do the math on that. I know what is at stake, and that is why i insist we act with a carbon tax dividend and massive increases in renewable research, renewable energy, energy storage, and carbon storage. But bigger than that, we have to summon the energies of the entire country to do with this. I have seen politicians in washington saying the right thing about Climate Change as long as i have been alive. All these plans we have ticket Carbon Neutral by 2050, i think most or all of us have one. Their impact is multiplied by zero unless something actually gets done. That is why i want to make sure our vision for climate includes people from the autoworker down the block from me to a farmer a few minutes away so they understand we are asking, pleading with them to be part of the solution, not beating them over the head. Tim Vice President biden, three consecutive american president s have enjoyed stints of explosive Economic Growth due to oil and gas production. As president would you sacrifice some of that growth, knowing it could displace thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of bluecollar workers, in the interest of transitioning to the greener economy . Former Vice President biden the answer is yes, yes, because the opportunity is for those workers to transition to higherpaying jobs. As tom said, that is real. We are a country that takes great crises and turns them into enormous opportunities. Ive met with the unions. For example, we should make sure right now that every new building is energy contained, that it doesnt leak energy, and in fact we should provide tax credits for people to make their home turned to solar power, and there are all kinds of folks here in california who are on the verge of having batteries about the size of the top of this podium, that you can store energy when the wind isnt blowing and the sun isnt shining. We have enormous opportunities. You talked about would we relocate people who were in a position where they lost their home . We have to rebuild but not at the standard that existed before. We have to rebuild to a standard that exists today. For example, we shouldnt build another new highway in america that doesnt have charging stations. We have an opportunity to put 550,000 charging stations, so we own the electric vehicle market, creating millions of jobs for the people installing them as well as making sure we own the electric vehicle market. There are many things we can do, and we have to make sure we explain it to those people who are being displaced that their skills are going to be needed for the new opportunities. Senator sanders with all due respect, your question misses the mark. It is not an issue of relocating people and towns. The issue is whether we save the planet for our children and our grandchildren. [applause] you should know what the scientists are telling us, that they have underestimated the threat and severity of Climate Change. You are talking about the paris agreement, fine. It aint enough. We have got to, and ive introduced legislation to do this, declare a national emergency. The United States has got to lead the world. Maybe, just maybe, instead of spending 1. 8 trillion a year globally on weapons of destruction, maybe an american president , i. E. Bernie sanders, can lead the world. [applause] instead of spending money to we poolh other, maybe our resources and fight our common enemy, Climate Change. [cheers and applause] tim senator warren, many of our western allies rely heavily on nuclear energy, and many climate experts believe it is impossible to realize your goal of net zero emissions by 2050 without utilizing nuclear energy. Can you have it both ways on this issue . Senator warren right now we have to stop putting more carbon into the air and have to get the carbon out of the air and out of the water. That means we need to keep some of our nuclear in place. I will not build more nuclear. I want to put the energy and the money on the resources behind clean energy, and by increasing by 10 fold what we put into science, into research and development. We need to do what we do best, innovate our way out of this problem and be a world leader. But understand, the biggest climate problem we face is the politicians in washington who keep saying the right thing, but continue to take money from the oil industry, continue to bow down to the lobbyists, the lawyers, the think tanks, the bought and paid for experts. America understands we have got to make change, and we are running out of time. Climate change effects every living thing on this planet, but Getting Congress to act, they just dont want to hear it. And if we dont attack the corruption first, if we dont attack the corruption headon, then we are not going to be able to make the changes we need to make on climate, on gun safety, on drug pricing, on all the problems that face us. We need a washington that doesnt just work for the rich and powerful, we need one that works for our families. Tim senator klobuchar. Senator klobuchar the way we tackle this corruption is by winning big in this election, and the way we take on Climate Change in a big way is by yes, talking about what is happening on the coast, but also talking about what is happening in the midwest, where i am from. It is not flyover country did me, i live there. What we are seeing there is unprecedented flooding, we are seeing a 50 increase in Homeowners Insurance over the past two years, and when we make these changes, we have to make clear to people that when we put a price on carbon, that that money is going to come back to those areas where people are going to be hurt, where jobs are going to change, and to make them whole with their energy bills. When you make the case like that, you bring in the midwestern vote, you win big. And the best way is by putting someone at the top of the ticket who is from the midwest. Tim mr. Yang, 45 seconds on nuclear energy. Mr. Yang we should pay to relocate americans away from places hit i Climate Change. We relocated the town in louisiana that became uninhabitable because the sea levels rose. That town is not alone. That is playing out in coastal areas around the country. Do you leave that town on its own or do you come together as a country and say, we need to protect our people from Climate Change . Part of my plan is literally called move people to higher ground, because that is what we need to do. And thats literal and figurative. Here in california, its forest fires and forest management. On Nuclear Power, i agree with the research. We need to have everything on the table in a crisis situation, which this is. Other countries have had success with Nuclear Power. And the next generation thorium reactors have a wealth of potential. Thorium is not radioactive the way uranium is. It doesnt last as long. And you cant make a weapon out of it. If were going to innovate our way out of this, we have to have nuclear on the table. Tim thank you, mr. Yang. The last word climate to you, mr. Steyer. Steyer look, the point about Nuclear Power is, its not at the stage in the United States where its competitive on price. It has a lot of risks to it in terms of disasters. And we have no ability to store the toxins that come out of it and last 100,000 years. We actually have the technology that we need. Its called wind and solar and batteries. So, in fact, what we need to do, we can do. Weve got to stop taking a look at this as something that we cant do, because we can do this. And we can do it in a way that creates, rebuilds this country on an accelerated basis, creates millions of union jobs, and we come at it from the standpoint of environmental justice. This is our greatest opportunity to reinvent this country, to actually take on the biggest challenge in history and succeed together. You want to pull the country together with all this partisanship . Lets take on the biggest challenge in history and succeed together as a nation. Thats what pulls people together. Tim thank you, mr. Steyer. [applause] amna thanks, tim. Vice president biden, youve been reassuring voters that things will return to normal once President Trump leaves office, that republicans will have what you call an epiphany and come to the table to work with a biden administration. But given everything that you have seen from current republicans, what evidence is there that things will change . Biden look, i didnt say return to normal. Normals not enough. Normal in fact, we have to move beyond normal, whether its health care, the environment, whatever it is. We have to build on what we had started in our administration, and thats been interrupted very badly, number one. Number two, with trump out of the way, its not going to change things in a fundamental way. But what it will do is it will mean that were in a position where hes not going to be able to intimidate the base, his base is not going to be able to intimidate those half a dozen republicans we may need in other things. I refuse to accept the notion, as some on this stage do, that we can never, never get to a place where we have cooperation again. If thats the case, were dead as a country. We need to be able to reach a consensus. And if anyone has reason to be angry with the republicans and not want to cooperate its me, the way theyve attacked me, my son, and my family. I have no no no love. [applause] but the fact is, we have to be able to get things done. And when we cant convince them, we go out and beat them like we did in the 2018 election in red states and in purple states. [applause] amna thank you, mr. Biden. Mr. Yang, i want to switch topics to you, mr. Yang, a new question. The Democratic Party relies on black, hispanic, and asian voters, but you are the only candidate of color on the stage tonight, and the entire field remains overwhelmingly white. What message do you think this sends to voters of color . Mr. Yang its both an honor and disappointment to be the lone candidate of color on the stage tonight. I miss kamala, i miss cory, though i think cory will be back. [applause] i grew up the son of immigrants, and i had many racial epithets used against me as a kid. But black and latinos have something much more powerful working against them than words. They have numbers. The average net worth of a black household is only 10 that of a white household. For latinos, it is 12 . If you are a black woman, you are 320 more likely to die from complications in childbirth. These are the numbers that define race in our country. And the question is, why am i the lone candidate of color on this stage . If than 5 of americans donate to political campaigns. You know what you need to donate to political campaigns . Disposable income. [applause] he way that we fix it the way we fix this is we take Martin Luther kings message of a guaranteed minimum income, a freedom dividend of 1,000 a month for all americans. I guarantee, if we had a freedom dividend of 1,000 a month, i would not be the only candidate of color on this stage tonight. [applause] amna thank you, mr. Yang. Senator sanders, i do want to put the same question to you, senator sanders. What message do you think sanders i will answer that question, but i wanted to get back to the issue of Climate Change for a moment, because i do believe this is the existential issue. Amna senator, with all respect, this question is about race. Can you answer the question as it was asked . [laughter] [applause] sanders i certainly can. Because people of color, in fact, are going to be the people suffering most if we do not deal with Climate Change. [applause] and by the way, we have an obligation up here, if there are not any of our africanamerican brothers and sisters up here, to speak about an economy in which africanamericans are exploited, where black women die three times at higher rates than white women, where we have a criminal Justice System which is racist and broken, disproportionately made up of africanamericans and latinos and native americans who are in jail. So we need an economy that focuses on the needs of oppressed, exploited people, and that is the africanamerican community. Amna thank you, senator. Yamiche . Yamiche thank you, amna. Senator klobuchar, here in california, people who identify as hispanic, black, asian, or multiracial represent a majority of the population, outnumbering white residents. The United States is expected to be majority nonwhite within a generation. What do you say to white americans who are uncomfortable with the idea of becoming a racial minority, even if you dont share their concerns . Senator klobuchar i would say, this, and youre looking at it. And we are not going to be able to succeed in the world if we do not invite everyone to be part of our economy. Our constitution says that we strive for a more perfect union. Well, thats what we are doing right now. And to me, that means, one, that everyone can vote, and that includes our communities of color. This action thats been taken by this president and his people and his governors all over the country is wrong. They have made it harder for africanamericans to vote, as one court said, discriminated with surgical precision. What would i do . As one of the leaders on voting in the u. S. Senate, one, stop the purging. As Stacey Abrams said, you know, you do not stop having your right to assemble if you dont go to a meeting for a year. Because you dont go to a church or a synagogue or a mosque for three months, you dont lose your right to worship. You shouldnt lose your right to vote. [applause] i would pass, as president , my bill to register every kid in this country when they turn 18 to vote. That would make all of these discriminatory actions in these states go away. And i would stop the gerrymandering, in addition to the agenda of economic opportunity. Because as Martin Luther king said, what good is it to integrate a lunch counter if you cant afford a hamburger . [applause] yamiche thank you, senator. Lets now turn to the issue of Foreign Policy and the middle east. Senator sanders, secretary of state mike pompeo recently declared that the United States believes israeli settlements in the west bank do not violate international law. That broke decadeslong u. S. Precedent. How would you respond to israeli expansion of settlements . Would you link that to foreign aid to israel . Sen. Sanders israel has and i say this as somebody who lived in israel as a kid, proudly jewish israel has the right not only to exist, but to exist in peace and security. But what but what u. S. Foreign policy must be about is not just being proisrael. We must be propalestinian, as well. [applause] and whether, in my view we must understand that right now in israel we have leadership under netanyahu, who has recently, as you know, been indicted for bribery, who, in my view, is a racist what we need is a level Playing Field in terms of the middle east, which addresses the terrible crisis in gaza, where 60 percent or 70 70 ofaza, where 60 or the young people are unemployed. So what my Foreign Policy will be about is human rights, is democracy, is bringing people together in a peaceful way, trying to negotiate agreements, not endless wars with trillions of dollars of expenses. [applause] yamiche thank you, senator. Mayor buttigieg . Buttigieg what we are seeing in the middle east and around the world are the consequences of this president s failure, this president s refusal to lead. Its particularly disturbing in the case of israel because he has infused domestic politics, making u. S. Foreign policy choices in order to effectively interfere in israeli domestic politics, acting as though that somehow makes him proisrael and projewish, while welcoming white nationalists into the white house. But its not only in the middle east that we see the consequences of the disappearance of u. S. Leadership. We see among our allies and among our adversaries case after case where the world is making plans on what to do, ignoring the United States, because were no longer considered reliable. Its not just the mockery at a Cocktail Party on the sidelines of a conference. Its the looks on the faces of the leaders at the u. N. As they looked at the United States president with a mixture of contempt and pity. As an american, i never again want to see the american president looked at that why by the leaders of the world. The world needs america right now. But it cant be just any america. It has to be one that is actually living up to the values that make us who we are supporting peace, supporting democracy, supporting human rights, and supporting stability around the world. [applause] yamiche thank you, mayor buttigieg. Senator warren, president obama pledged to close the Detention Camp at Guantanamo Bay but could not. 40 prisoners remain there. Last year, u. S. Taxpayers paid 540 million to keep guantanamo open. Would you pledge to finally close the detention facility . And if elected, how will you do it . Senator warren yes. It is time to close this detention facility. It not only costs us money, it is an international embarrassment. We have to be an america that lives our values every single day. We cant be an america that stands up and asks people to fight alongside us, as we did with the kurds in fighting isis, and then turn around in the blink of a tweet, and say that were turning our backs on the people who stood beside us. After that, who wants to be an ally of the United States . We have to be an america that understands the difference and recognizes the difference between our allies, the people who will work alongside us, and the dictators who would do us harm. And we need to treat our allies better than we treat the dictators. That needs to be our job as an america. [applause] we have we have the finest military on earth. All three of my brothers served. And we have people on this stage who have served, and i am deeply grateful for that. Our military is strong and important, but we need to be an america that relies on our state department, that relies on diplomacy, that relies on our economic power and that relies on working together with the rest of the world to build a world that is sustainable environmentally and economically for everyone. Yamiche thank you. Thank you, senator warren. Vice president biden, why couldnt you close Guantanamo Bay . Why couldnt the Obama Administration close Guantanamo Bay . Fmr. Vp. Biden we attempted to close Guantanamo Bay, but you have to have Congressional Authority to do it. Theyve kept it open. And the fact is that we, in fact, think its greatest it is an advertisement for creating terror. Look, what we have done around the world in terms of keeping guantanamo open or what trump has done, by no longer being an honest broker in israel, theres no solution for israel other than a twostate solution. It does not exist. Its not possible to have a jewish state in the middle east without there being a twostate solution. And he has played to all the same fears and all the prejudices that exist in this country and in israel. Bibi netanyahu and i know one another well. He knows that i think what hes doing is outrageous. What we do is, we have to put pressure constantly on the israelis to move to a twostate solution, not withdraw physical aid from them in terms of their security. And lastly, i think that. Yamiche thank you, Vice President biden. Fmr. Vp. Biden . Senator warren is correct. We have led by not the example of our power, but the power of our example. And the example were demonstrating now is horrible. Its hurting us badly. Yamiche thank you, Vice President biden. Judy . [applause] judy i want to turn to another part of the world, and thats china. Mayor buttigieg, you have said that you think china presents more of a challenge than do your fellow candidates believe. The u. S. Clearly wants chinas cooperation on human rights, on Climate Change, on north korea, on terrorism. And yet americans are appalled by chinas record on human rights, including the detention of over a million Muslim Uighurs. Should the u. S. , is my question, do more than protest and issue sanctions . Should the u. S. , for example, boycott the 2022 beijing olympics . Mayor buttigieg i think that any tool ought to be on the table, especially diplomatic, economic, and social tools, like what youre describing. Look, for the president to let it be known that his silence, whether its on the rounding up of Muslim Uighurs in xinjiang, putting them into camps, or the aspirations of the people of hong kong for democracy, for him to let china know that his silence can be purchased is trashing american values. The reality is that theres a lot more to the relationship with china than whos selling more dishwashers. Yes, we need a much smarter trade policy. We also have to acknowledge whats going on over there the use of technology for the perfection of dictatorship. That is going to require a stronger than ever response from the u. S. In defense of democracy. But when folks out there standing up for democracy hear not a peep from the president of the United States, what message is that sending to the Chinese Communist party . The message i will send is that if they perpetrate a repeat of anything like tiananmen square, when it comes to hong kong, they will be isolated from the free world, and we will lead that isolation diplomatically and economically. [applause] judy mr. Steyer, Many Americans have been moved in the last months by the protests of the people of hong kong. It is chinese territory, but what could you, would you do as president if the Chinese Government moved in militarily . Mr. Steyer look, there is a temptation, particularly for this president , to try and answer that on a bilateral in a bilateral way. The way the United States should be reacting in hong kong is by gathering our coalition of democracy and freedomloving partners and allies to push back. In fact, when were making moral statements around the world, it should not be us threatening and trying to be the worlds policeman. It should be us leading on a valuedriven basis with the other people who share our values and want to change the world. We actually cant isolate ourselves from china. In fact, we have to work with them as a frenemy. People who disturb us, who we disagree with, but who, in effect, we are linked to in a world that is ever getting closer. And, in fact, if we are going to treat climate as the threat that it is, we are going to have to partner with the chinese. They are going to have to come along with us. Theyre going to have to trust us. And together were going to have to solve this problem. Judy thank you, mr. Steyer. Mr. Steyer so the ability to say whats off the table we need a Good Relationship with them and were going to have to work with them Going Forward under all circumstances. Judy thank you, mr. Steyer. Vice president biden, on china, we now know that china is engaged in an unprecedented military buildup. They have Just Launched a new aircraft carrier. There are new signs of their disturbing Espionage Campaign here inside the United States. There are a number of disturbing signs from the chinese. National security scholars have long warned about the historical precedent that when theres a ruling power and a rising power, theres likely to be a war. Is the u. S. On a collision course with china . Fmr. Vp. Biden its not. Judy what steps could you take as president . Fmr. Vp. Biden its on a collision course with china, but not for war. What we have to make clear is that we, in fact, are not going to abide by what theyve done. A million uighurs, as you pointed out, muslims, are in concentration camps. Thats where they are right now. Theyre being abused. Theyre in concentration camps. And what we started in our administration that trump stopped, we should be moving 60 percent of our sea power to that area of the world to let, in fact, the chinese understand that theyre not going to go any further. We are going to be there to protect other folks. Secondly, we, in fact, should make sure that we begin to rebuild our alliances, which trump has demolished, with japan and south korea, australia and all and indonesia. We, in fact, need to have allies who understand that were going to stop the chinese from their actions. We should be going to the u. N. Immediately and sought sanctions against them in the United Nations for what they did. We have to be firm. We dont have to go to war. But we have to make it clear, this is as far as you go, china. And in terms of their military buildup, its real. But it would take them about 17 years to build up to where we are. Were not looking for a war. But weve got to make clear, we are a Pacific Power and we are not going to back away. Judy mr. Yang and then senator klobuchar. [applause] mr. Yang i have family in hong kong. I spent four months there and seeing whats happening on the streets. Its shocking. They banned face masks in hong kong. Why . Because they have Ai Technology that now is using facial recognition to identify protesters if they so much as do anything on the street so they can follow up with them and detain them later. This is the rivalry that we have to win where china is concerned. Theyre in the process of leapfrogging us in ai because they have more data than we do and their government is subsidizing it to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. I have sat with our leading technologists and they say they cannot match the chinese resources. China just produced its first major smartphone that does not have google apps and it is now trying to export its technology to the rest of the world. What we have to do is build an International Coalition to set technology standards, and then you can bring the chinese to the table in a very real way, because this is their top priority, and this is where we need to outcompete them and win. Judy senator klobuchar . [applause] senator klobuchar when it comes to Foreign Policy, i think we need to keep our promises and keep our threats. And this president has done neither. In a country like china, their leaders, they watch that and they know. He has stood with dictators over innocents. He has stood with tyrants over free leaders. He does it all the time. And i have a little different take than some of my colleagues when it comes to what happened at that conference with nato. Yeah, they were making fun of him, some of the foreign leaders. Ive heard senators make more fun of other senators than that. The point of it was that he couldnt even tolerate it. He is so thinskinned that he walked. He quit. America doesnt quit. So if we want to send a message to the chinese, we stand with our allies. We stand with them firmly. We have a very clear and coherent Foreign Policy when it comes to human rights. Check out my website, amyklobuchar. Com. I have the five rs of our Foreign Policy, about reasserting our values, rejoining international agreements, like the Iranian Nuclear agreement. But it all comes down to one r returning to sanity. [applause] judy mayor buttigieg, and then were going to take a break. Mayor buttigieg im actually not worried about the president s bad sense of humor when it comes to being made fun of. Im worried about the fact that he is echoing the vocabulary of dictators around the world. When the american president refers to unfavorable press coverage as the product of the enemy of the people, democracy around the world gets weaker. Freedom of the press, not just here at home but around the world gets weaker. Its one more reminder of what is at stake, not just here at home, but for World History in him home, but for World History in the imperative that we win this election. Senator klobuchar could i respond . Mayor buttigieg this is our chance. Judy very brief. Very brief. Senator klobuchar ok. I just want to make very clear, mayor, that the freedom of the press is deep in my heart. My dad was a newspaperman. And i am the one that asked every attorney general candidate weve had under donald trump, both of whom i opposed, about their respect for the First Amendment. And they have refused, they have refused to follow the rules that attorney general holder put in place when it came to protecting our journalists. They would not commit that they wouldnt put a journalist in jail for doing their job. So this is not just talking points to me. This is the real world. And i think that experience that i will bring to the white house, with protecting the First Amendment, is worth more than any talking points. [applause] judy we are going to take a short break, and we will be well be right back with more questions. The pbs newshour politico democratic bait will continue in debate will continue in a moment. Judy welcome back to the pbs newshourpolitico democratic president ial debate. Im judy woodruff, joined by my pbs newshour colleagues, amna nawaz and Yamiche Alcindor, by tim alberta of politico. Now lets turn to the next question from tim. Tim thank you, judy. Candidates, lets make things interesting. Former president obama said this week when asked who should be running countries that if women were in charge, youd see a significant improvement on just about everything. [applause] [cheers] he also said, quote, if you look at the world and look at the problems, its usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way. [laughter] [applause] senator sanders, you are the oldest candidate on stage this evening. Senator sanders and im white, as well. Yes. Tim how do you respond to what the former president had to say . Senator sanders well, i got a lot of respect for barack obama. I think i disagree with him on this one. [laughter] maybe a little selfserving, but i do disagree. Here is the issue. The issue is where power resides in america, and its not white or black or male or female. We are living in a nation increasingly becoming an oligarchy, where you have a handful of billionaires who spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying elections and politicians. You have more income and wealth inequality today than at any time since the 1920s. We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care for all people, which is why we need medicare for all. We are facing an existential crisis of Climate Change. The issue is not old or young, male or female. The issue is working people standing up, taking on the billionaire class, and creating a government and economy that works for all, not just the 1 percent. Tim thank you, senator sanders. [applause] Vice President biden, im going to guess that president obama did not clear that remark through your campaign ahead of time. [laughter] fmr. Vp. Biden and im going to guess. Tim what do you say to it . Fmr. Vp. Biden and im going to guess he wasnt talking about me, either. Tim ok. Fmr. Vp. Biden number one. Look, im running im running because ive been around, on my experience. With experience hopefully comes judgment and a little bit of wisdom. The fact is that were in a position now, the next president of the United States is going to inherit two things, an economy that is out of kilter and a domestic policy that needs to be where we have to unite america. And a Foreign Policy that requires somebody to be able to on day one stand up, look out, the entire world know who that person is, know what they stand for, and know they know them. And thats what thats the reason im running. I have more experience in doing that than anybody on this stage. Tim just to follow up, Vice President biden, if elected, if elected you would turn 82 at the end of your first term. Youd be the oldest president in American History. Fmr. Vp. Biden more like winston churchill. Tim are you willing are you willing to commit American History. Fmr. Vp. Biden oh, American History. Tim yes. Are you. Fmr. Vp. Biden i was joking. That was a joke. Tim ok. [laughter] appreciate it. Fmr. Vp. Biden politico doesnt have much of a sense of humor. Tim oh, weve got a great sense of humor. They wouldnt have put me on stage otherwise. Are you willing to commit tonight to running for a second term if youre elected next november . Fmr. Vp. Biden no, im not willing to commit one way or another. Heres the deal. Im not even elected one term yet, and lets see where we are. Lets see what happens. [applause] boone but its a nice thought. [laughter] tim senator klobuchar, you had your hand raised. Senator klobuchar thank you for asking a woman this question. I think. [applause] first of all, we have not had enough women in our government. When i was on trevor noahs show once, i explained how in the history of the senate, there was Something Like 2,000 men and only 50 women in the whole history. And he said if a nightclub had numbers that bad, they would shut it down. [laughter] however, it is not just about numbers. Its about what you get done. And that is my argument. If you look at the poll the state that knows me best, and that is the state of minnesota, it showed in the state that hillary had her lowest margin of victory, it showed that id beat donald trump by 18 points. I beat him with men more than anyone on this stage. So i think what matters in this election is, can you bring in those rural and suburban areas, particularly in the midwest . And number two, what will you do when you get there . And i am someone that has passed over 100 bills, with men and women, with republicans and with democrats, including changing the Sexual Harassment laws for the United States congress, a bill i led so taxpayers are no longer going to have to pay for people that harass other people. Tim senator warren. Senator klobuchar i have passed a law for drug shortages. I have done work in our rural areas. I think thats what most matters to people. I would be so proud to be the first woman president. But mostly i want to be a president that gets things done and improves peoples lives. Tim thank you, senator klobuchar. [applause] you senator warren, you would be the oldest president ever inaugurated. Id like you to weigh in, as well. Senator warren id also be the youngest woman ever inaugurated. [laughter] [applause] i believe that president obama was talking about who has power in america, whose voices get heard. I believe hes talking about women and people of color and trans people and people whose voices just so often get shoved out. And for me, the best way to understand that is to look at how people are running their campaigns in 2020. You know, i made the decision when i decided to run not to do business as usual. And now im proud to have been in 100,000 selfies. Thats 100,000 hugs and handshakes and stories, stories from people who are struggling with Student Loan Debt, stories from people who cant pay their medical bills, stories from people who cant find childcare. Now, most of the people on this stage run a traditional campaign. And that means going back and forth from coast to coast to rich people and people who can put up 5,000 bucks or more in order to have a picture taken, in order to have a conversation, and in order maybe to be considered to be an ambassador. Tim thank you, senator warren. Senator warren those selfies no, i want to finish this. Those selfies cost nobody anything. And i get it. In a democracy, we all have a lot of different points of view. And everybody gets one vote. But heres the thing. People who can put down 5,000 to have a picture taken dont have the same priorities as people who are struggling with Student Loan Debt or who are struggling to pay off medical debt. I want im running a campaign where people whose voices get heard. We cant have. Tim thank you, senator warren. Were. Senator warren we cant have people who can put down 5,000 for a check drown out the voices of everyone else. Tim thank you, senator warren. Senator warren they dont in my campaign, and they wont in my white house. [no audio] [applause] [cheers and applause] tim mayor buttigieg mayor buttigieg, you had your hand raised. Mayor buttigieg well, cant help but feel that might have been directed at me. And here is the thing. Were in the fight of our lives right now. Donald trump and his allies have made it abundantly clear that they will stop at nothing, not even foreign interference to hold onto power. Theyve already put together more than 300 million. This is our chance. This is our only chance to defeat donald trump. And we shouldnt try to do it with one hand tied behind our back. The way were going to win is to bring everybody to our side in this fight. If that means that youre a grad student digging deep to go online to peteforamerica. Com and chip in 10 bucks, thats great. And if you can drop 1,000 without blinking, thats great, too. We need everybodys help in this fight. Im not going to turn away anyone who wants to help us defeat donald trump. We need democrats whove been with us all along, yes, but we also need independents worried about the direction of the country. If youre a republican disgusted with whats going on in your own party, were not going to agree on everything, but we need you in this fight, and i will welcome you to our side. Tim thank you, mr. Mayor. [applause] as senator warren, 45 seconds to respond. Senator warren so the mayor just recently had a fundraiser that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served 900abottle wine. Think about who comes to that. He had promised that every fundraiser he would do would be open door, but this one was closed door. We made the decision many years ago that rich people in smokefilled rooms would not pick the next president of the United States. [applause] billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States. Tim mr. Mayor, your response . [applause] mayor buttigieg you know, according to forbes magazine, i am literally the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire. [applause] so if this is important. This is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass. [applause] if i pledge if i pledge never to be in the company of a Progressive Democratic donor, i couldnt be up here. Senator, your net worth is 100 times mine. Now, supposing that you went home feeling the holiday spirit i know this isnt likely, but stay with me and decided to go onto peteforamerica. Com and gave the maximum allowable by law, 2,800, would that pollute my campaign because it came from a wealthy person . No, i would be glad to have that support. We need the support from everybody who is committed to helping us defeat donald trump. [applause] tim we would like to bring in everyone, but obviously, senator warren, would like to give you a chance to respond. Senator warren i do not sell access to my time. I dont do call time with millionaires and billionaires. Mayor buttigieg hold on a second. Sorry, as of when, senator . Senator warren i dont meet i dont meet behind closed doors with big dollar donors. And, look, i have taken one that ought to be an easy step for everyone here. Ive said to anyone who wants to donate to me, if you want to donate to me, thats fine, but dont come around later expecting to be named ambassador, because thats what goes on in these highdollar fundraisers. I said no, and i asked everybody on this stage to join me. This ought to be an easy step. And heres the problem. If you cant stand up and take the steps that are relatively easy, cant stand up to the wealthy and well connected when its relatively easy when youre a candidate, then how can the American People believe youre going to stand up to the wealthy and wellconnected when youre president and its really hard . [applause] senator klobuchar judy judy. Mayor buttigieg senator, senator, ive got to respond. Tim mr. Mayor, were going to give you one more chance to respond. Mayor buttigieg first of all, if you cant say no to a donor, then you have no business running for office in the first place. But also, senator, your president ial campaign right now as we speak is funded in part by money you transferred, having raised it at those exact same bigticket fundraisers you now denounce. Did it corrupt you, senator . Of course not. So to denounce the same kind of fundraising guidelines that president obama went by, that Speaker Pelosi goes by, that you yourself went by until not long ago, in order to build the Democratic Party and build a Campaign Ready for the fight of our lives, these purity tests shrink the stakes of the most important election. Tim wed like to bring everyone in. Wed like to bring everyone in. [crosstalk] tim but, senator klobuchar, had your hand up first. Wed like to call on you. Senator klobuchar i did not come here to listen to this argument. I came here to make a case for progress. And i have never even been to a wine cave. Ive been to the wind cave in south dakota, which i suggest you go to. So what is making a case for progress about . That is what unites us up here instead of what divides us, which is Campaign Finance reform. [applause] reform. That means passing a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united. It means making the first bill we pass when i am president will be h. R. 1, which is the Ethics Reform passed in the house, which is currently sitting on Mitch Mcconnells desk, along with 400 bills. And if you dont think we can get this done, well, we can, but only if we win this election big. Tim thank you, senator. Senator klobuchar not by arguing with each other, but by finding what unites us and getting this done. [applause] i came to make a case for progress. Tim thank you, senator klobuchar. Senator sanders . Senator sanders i am i am rather proud, maybe, i dont know, the only candidate up here that doesnt have any billionaire contributions. But you know what i do have . We have received more contributions from more individuals than any candidate in the history of the United States of america at this point in an election, averaging 18 a piece. Now, theres a real competition going on up here. My good friend, joe, and he is a good friend, hes received contributions from 44 billionaires. Pete, on the other hand, hes trailing, pete. You only got 39 billionaires contributing. [laughter] so, pete, we look forward to you. I know youre an energetic guy and a competitive guy to see if you can take on joe on that issue. [laughter] but what is not what is not a laughing matter, my friends, this is why three people own more wealth than the bottom half. This is why amazon and other major corporations pay zero in federal taxes. We need to get money out of politics. We should run our campaigns on that basis. Tim thank you, senator. [applause] Vice President biden, 45 seconds to respond. Fmr. Vp. Biden my average contributions is 43, number one. Thats number one. Number two, the idea that the senator suggested, that i am in the pocket of billionaires, when, in fact, they oppose everything that i have ever done and continue to do, i have made sure from the very beginning every one of my fundraisers is open to the press, every single solitary one. Not one single time, period. [applause] and i have made sure that you know exactly where all the and the largest contribution i have accepted is 2,800, which is allowed under law. And im the first person to introduce the constitutional amendment to make sure that there is no all public funding of elections. End all private funding. And we all should take a commitment, make a commitment to that right now on this stage. In the meantime, you got to fund a campaign, and we, in fact, have funded a campaign, average contribution 43. Tim thank you, Vice President. [applause] mr. Steyer, i would like to bring you in. Mr. Steyer listen, i am running because this government is broken, because its purchased by corporations. And ive spent 10 years fighting those corporations and beating them and building grassroots organizations to push power down to the people. Thats what ive been doing for a decade. But let me say this. Theres someone who is loving this conversation, and his name is donald trump. Fmr. Vp. Biden thats right. Mr. Steyer we know how hes going to run. Hes told us last week he looked at a group of americans and said, i dont like you. You dont like me. It doesnt matter. Youre going to support me because the democrats will destroy the economy in 15 minutes. We need to go after this guy. Hes a different breed of cat, and we need to beat him. And we need to talk about prosperity. And i spent 25 years building a business. Were going to have to take him on, on the economy, not have these kinds of conversations and tear each other down, but actually go after. Tim thank you, mr. Steyer. Mr. Steyer this corrupt president and beat him on the economy where he thinks hes king and where, in fact, hes a fraud and a failure. Tim thank you, mr. Steyer. Were going to end it there. [no audio] amna thanks, tim. I want to turn now to an issue thats been in the headlines quite a bit, and that is immigration. Mr. Yang, we have a question here from a professor right here at loyola, marymount. There are nearly 200,000 daca recipients, socalled dreamers, in the state of california, more than any other state, including several students right here at lmu. If you win and you reinstate daca through executive action, another president could just overturn it again. So will you move on a permanent legislative fix for dreamers in your first 100 days, if elected . Mr. Yang of course i would. Im the son of immigrants myself, and i know that dreamers are essentially americans in everything but this legal classification. [applause] i just want to return to this conversation, because i think its core. Our country is deeply misogynist, and most all of us know that. Money and men are tied together. Thats where i thought elizabeth was taking the conversation. The fact is, strong societies would elect more female leaders. Strong men treat women well for the same reasons. [applause] im on the record saying that you need both strong men and female leaders in government, because the fact is, if you get too many men alone and leave us alone for a while, we kind of become morons. [laughter] [applause] so its related to our Campaign Finance rules, because right now the fact is we operate in a fundamentally antiwoman marketplace. And that includes the marketplace for politicians. If we were to put 100 democracy dollars into the hands of every american voter, instead of 5 percent contributing, youd see that rate skyrocket to 50 percent or 60 percent, and youd have many, many more women who would run for office because they dont have to go shake the money tree in the wine cave. [laughter] amna thank you, mr. Yang. I do. [applause] senator klobuchar could i address. Amna id like to follow up. The question, again, mr. Yang, was about dreamers. Senator klobuchar could i address Immigration Reform . Amna you pledged to move you pledged to move on a permanent legislative fix in your first 100 days. Dreamers say that they are frustrated by democrats failure to prioritize their status in deal after deal. So why should dreamers trust democrats now . Mr. Yang i believe everyone on this stage would do the right thing by dreamers in the first 100 days. I would make it a top priority. Im the son of immigrants myself. The fact is, almost half of fortune 500 companies were started by an immigrant or children of immigrants. Immigrants make our country stronger and more dynamic. [applause] and immigrants are being scapegoated for issues they have absolutely nothing to do with. If you go to the factory in michigan, its not walltowall immigrants. Its walltowall robot arms and machines. We have to send the opposite message of this administration. And as your president , i think i could send a very clear message, where if you are considering immigrating to this country and i am the president , you would realize my son or daughter can become president of the United States. Thats the opposite of the current administration, and thats the message i would love to send to the world. Amna thank you, mr. Yang. [applause] senator sanders, a related question to you. Senator Sanders Donald trump. Amna actually, senator sanders senator sanders, i have a new question for you. You can respond to mr. Yangs comments, as well. Senator sanders i cant respond to the immigration question . Amna this is related, sir. But there are estimated to be as many as 12 million undocumented immigrants in the u. S. , more than 2 million right here in california. If you have a chance to forge a bipartisan Immigration Reform plan, would you insist on a path to citizenship for all 12 million or just a segment of that population . Senator sanders this is what i would do. Day one, executive order, restore the legal status of 1. 8 million young people in the daca program. [applause] day one, we change border policy so that federal agents will never snatch babies from the arms of their mothers. [applause] day one, day one, we introduce bipartisan legislation, which will, in fact, be comprehensive, which will result in a path toward citizenship for all of the 11 million who are undocumented. That is what the people of our country want. [applause] trump thinks mistakenly that he is going to win reelection by dividing us up. We are going to win this election by bringing our people together black and white and latino, native american, asian american. Thats what this campaign is about. Thats what america must be about. [applause] amna senator klobuchar, you had your hand up. Senator klobuchar thank you. I started my daytoday with a group of immigrants who were there talking to me about housing. And i thought about this president and what hes done. He has used our immigrants as political pawns. Every single day, he tries to draw a wedge. I will be a different president. My view on this comes from experience. When i got to the senate, senator kennedy asked me to be one of the two new senators that was in the group to work on the Immigration Reform package. We got so close to passing that. I voted for it. Not everyone did. But most of the democrats did. Then i was on the Judiciary Committee when president obama was president. And we worked very hard on that Immigration Reform. We actually passed that with republican votes. Then i was in the small group that worked on the compromise on the dreamers that would have solved that problem. We didnt get that done because this president gutpunched us. Amna thank you, senator. Senator klobuchar i will take my views. I will take this experience. I will get this done because immigrants dont diminish america. They are america. Amna thank you, senator. [applause] mr. Steyer, briefly, your response . Mr. Steyer listen, i think its important to note that this president is not against immigration. Hes against immigration by nonwhite people. Senator warren yes. [applause] mr. Steyer this is his attempt to divide us, as senator sanders said, on race. And thats what hes been doing since the very first day he started running for president. Hes been vilifying nonwhite people. Hes been trying to inflame his base and scare them that if, in fact, white people lose control of this country, that theyre going to lose control of their lives. And as somebody who lives in a majorityminority state, which is california, what hes doing is so wrong on so many different levels. I agree with senator sanders. We have to reframe this argument completely. We have to go back to the idea that every american is worth being a full human being on every right. This is a racial argument by a racist president whos trying to divide us and whos vilifying people. Its absolutely wrong. And its led him to break the laws of humanity in our name. Amna thank you, mr. Steyer. [applause] mayor buttigieg, a new question to you, mr. Mayor. You said last month that the u. S. Owes compensation to children separated from their families at the southern border. The consensus among Child Welfare experts is that those thousands of children will likely suffer lifelong trauma as a result of that separation. Are you committing as president to financial compensation for those thousands of children . Mayor buttigieg yes, and they should have a fast track to citizenship, because what the United States did under this president to them was wrong. We have a moral obligation to make right what was broken. And on the larger issue of immigration, my understanding of this issue isnt theoretical. Its not something i formed in Committee Rooms in washington. It begins with the fact that my household, my family, came from abroad. My father immigrated to this country and became a u. S. Citizen. It comes from the fact that im the mayor of a city where neighborhoods that were left for dying are now coming back to life, largely because of the contributions mainly of latino immigrants. And ive seen those same neighborhoods shut down, families huddling in church, panicking just because of the rumor of an ice raid. That did not make our country safer. Senator klobuchar could i respond . Mayor buttigieg i had to look into the eyes of an 8yearold boy whose father was deported, even though he had nothing so much as a traffic ticket against his name, and try to think of something to tell that boy because i couldnt tell him what he most wanted to hear, which is just that he was going to have his dad back. How could harming that young man possibly make america safer . Amna mr. Mayor, just. Mayor buttigieg when i am president , based on those experiences, i will make sure that this is a country of laws and of values. And that means not only ending these unspeakable, cruel practices at the border, but finally and truly fixing the immigration system that has needed a full overhaul since the 1980s. Amna mr. Mayor mayor buttigieg we cannot wait 4 years, 10 years. We cannot wait anymore to do something about this. Amna thank you, mr. Mayor. Just to follow up. [applause] [applause]. Since you do support compensation for those families, should the u. S. Also compensate descendants of enslaved people . Do you support reparations for africanamericans . Mayor buttigieg i support h. R. 40, which is the bill that has been proposed in congress to establish a commission to look at reparations. But we shouldnt wait for that commission to do its work to do things that are reparative. Remember, were not talking about a gift to anybody. Were talking about mending what was broken. Were talking about the generational theft of the wealth of generations of africanamericans. And just crossing out a racist policy and replacing it with a neutral one is not enough to deliver equality. Harms compound, just like a dollar saved in its value compounds over time. So does the value of a dollars stolen. And that is why the United States must act immediately with investments in minorityowned businesses, with investments in health equity, with investments in hbcus, and on the longer term look at reparations so that we can mend what has been broken. Amna Vice President biden, do you support reparations . [applause] fmr. Vp. Biden look, let me since i havent spoken on this, ive got a chance. Number one, the reason were the country we are is because of immigration. Weve been able to cherry pick the best from every single continent. The people who come here have determination, resilience. They are ready to stand up and work like the devil. We have 24 out of every 100 children in our schools today is hispanic. The idea that we are going to walk away and not provide every opportunity for them is not only stupid and immoral, but its bad for america. They are the future of america and we should invest in them. Everybody will benefit from it, every single american. And you should get used to it. This is a nation of immigrants. Thats who we are. Thats why were who we are. Thats what makes us different. And we should invest in them. [applause] amna thank you, mr. Biden. Senator klobuchar, you had your hand up. Senator klobuchar well, i was i was harkening back. I made my case on immigration to what the mayor said about washington. So i look at this a different way. When we were in the last debate, mayor, you basically mocked the hundred years of experience on the stage. And what do i see on this stage . I see elizabeths work starting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and helping 29 Million People. [applause] i see the Vice President s work in getting 2 billion for his cancer moon shot. I see senator sanders work working to get the veterans bill passed across the aisle. And i see what ive done, which is to negotiate three farm bills and be someone that actually had major provisions put in those bills. So while you can dismiss committee hearings, i think this experience works. And i have not denigrated your experience as a local official. I have been one. Mayor buttigieg you know im sorry. Senator klobuchar i just think you should respect our experience when you look at how you evaluate someone who can get things done. [applause] amna thank you, senator. Mr. Mayor, ill give you a chance to respond. Mayor buttigieg you actually did denigrate my experience, senator, and it was before the break, and i was going to let it go, because we got bigger fish to fry here. But you implied that my senator klobuchar oh, i dont think we have bigger fish to fry than picking a president of the United States. [laughter] [applause] mayor buttigieg youre right. And before the break, you seemed to imply that my relationship to the First Amendment was a talking point, as if anyone up here has any more or less commitment to the constitution than anybody else up here. Let me tell you about my relationship to the First Amendment. It is part of the constitution that i raised my right hand and swore to defend with my life. That is my experience. And it may not be the same as yours, but it counts, senator. It counts. Amna thank you, mr. Mayor. Senator klobuchar, you have 45 seconds to respond. [applause] senator klobuchar i have been i certainly respect your military experience. Thats not what this is about. This is about choosing a president. And i know my view of this is i know you ran to be chair of the Democratic National committee. Thats not something that i wanted to do. I want to be president of the United States. And the point is, we should have someone heading up this ticket that has actually won and been able to show that they can gather the support that you talk about of moderate republicans and independents, as well as a firedup democratic base, and not just done it once, i have done it three times. I think winning matters. I think a track record of getting things done matters. And i also think showing our party that we can actually bring people with us, have a wider tent, have a bigger coalition, and, yes, longer coattails, that matters. Amna thank you, senator. [applause] mayor buttigieg i got to respond to that. I got to respond to that. Senator, i know that, if you just go by vote totals, maybe what goes on in my city seems small to you. If you want to talk about the capacity to win, try putting together a coalition to bring you back to office with 80 percent of the vote as a gay dude in mike pences indiana. [laughter] [applause] senator klobuchar again, i would mayor, if you if you had won in indiana, that would be one thing. You tried and you lost by 20 points. Im sorry. Thats just the math. Senator sanders lets talk about how we win an election, which is something everybody here wants to do, in terms of defeating the most dangerous president in American History. So let me tell you how you win it you have the largest voter turnout in the history of america. [applause] and you dont have you dont have the largest voter turnout unless you create energy and excitement. And you dont create energy and excitement unless you are prepared to take on the people who own america and are prepared to speak to the people who are working in america. We need a Progressive Agenda medicare for all, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, leading the world in combatting Climate Change, making Public Colleges and universities available to all. Yamiche thank you. Thank you, senator sanders. Senator sanders because we have free tuition, and canceling all student debt in this country. Yamiche thank you, senator sanders. [applause] id like to turn to a new subject, and that is, of course, education. Senator warren, youve proposed Free Public College tuition and student loan forgiveness for most families. Why should wealthy families be able to send their kids to Public College for free . Why not concentrate that government help on those most in need . Senator warren so, as ive talked about before, i have a two cent wealth tax proposed for millionaires and billionaires, and that gives us enough money to invest in all of our babies, age 0 to 5, to put an historic 800 billion investment in Public Schools k through 12, and that will permit us to offer technical school, twoyear college, Fouryear College for every Single Person who wants an education, cancel Student Loan Debt for 50 put a 50 billion investment in our historically black colleges and universities, and cancel Student Loan Debt for 43 million americans. Look, this is about money, but this is also about values. We need to make an investment in our future, and the best way to do that is lets invest in the Public Education of our children. That starts when youre babies and it goes long after high school. We want to have families. I meet families every day in the selfie lines who talk about what it means to be crushed by Student Loan Debt. Thats why i have a proposal popular among democrats, popular among republicans, popular among independents, to ask those at the top to pay a little more so somebody can get rid of that Student Loan Debt so they can make an investment in themselves, start a small business, buy a car, create a future for themselves and for this country. Yamiche thank you, senator. I see some hands, but i want to go to mayor buttigieg. Mayor buttigieg can i respond . Yamiche mayor buttigieg, your plan offers free or discounted Public College only to families making up to 150,000 a year. Do you think senator warrens plan offers free college to too many families . Mayor buttigieg i do think that if youre in that lucky top 10 percent i still wish you well, dont get me wrong. I just want you to go ahead and pay your own tuition. Now, we can still have Public Service loan forgiveness for those who go into lower income fields to deal with that. But if youre in that top 10 percent, i think youre going to be for the most part ok. And there is a very real choice on where every one of these tax dollars goes. So i very much agree with senator warren on raising more tax revenue from millionaires and billionaires. I just dont agree on the part about spending it on millionaires and billionaires when it comes to their college tuition. Yamiche thank you, mayor. Thank you, mayor buttigieg. Senator warren so no, wait, wait, wait. Yamiche i want to. Senator warren no. He mentioned me by name. Yamiche im going to let im going to let you respond, senator warren. Senator warren he mentioned me by name. Look, the mayor wants billionaires to pay one tuition for their own kids. I want a billionaire to pay enough to cover tuition for all of our kids, because thats how we build a future. [applause] the other part is weve got to deal with Student Loan Debt. And right now, most of the people on this stage are nibbling around the edges of a huge Student Loan Debt burden that disproportionally affects people of color. Africanamericans are more likely to have to borrow money to go to school, more likely to borrow more money while theyre in school, and have a harder time paying it off. We want to make an investment in the future . Then open up education for all of our kids. Thats how we build a future. Yamiche thank you, senator. Senator sanders . Senator klobuchar could i respond after bernie . Senator sanders we believe i believe in the concept of universality. And one of the crises in America Today is people are sick and tired of filling out forms. So youre not eligible for the program today because youre at 150,000, but you lost your job, are you eligible . You get a better job, youre eligible. I think what we have to do is what we do with Social Security, what we do with Public Education. Donald trumps kids can go to a public school. They should be able to go to a public school. What we need right now is a revolution in education. We have got to end this dysfunctional childcare system and make sure that every workingclass person in this country can find highquality, affordable childcare. We need to make Public Colleges and universities tuitionfree. And by taxing billionaires and by taxing wall street, we will cancel all student debt in this country. Yamiche thank you, senator sanders. Tim . [applause] tim switching gears here, mr. Steyer, earlier this year in iowa, i met a father, bill stumpf, and his son, kyle, in dubuque. Kyle is a remarkable young adult with significant disabilities. And though hes been employed for about five years at a local pizza parlor, the future is very uncertain for his family. Bill worries that there arent enough jobs, living facilities, social programs designed to meet the needs of his son. So im wondering, as president , are there specific steps that you would take to help people like kyle become more integrated into the workforce and into their local communities . Mr. Steyer look, the United States has made a commitment to treat everybody equally. And that means supporting people with disabilities, both in terms of education and later when theyre part of the workforce. That means bringing the resources to bear to make sure that were treating them fairly, in school and after school, to try and integrate them fully and to make them have as full a life as possible. The question weve got here across the board is, can we afford to do the kinds of things that senator sanders and senator warren are pushing . And the answer is yes, that, in fact, what we need to do is to undo the tax breaks that have been given for two generations to rich americans and big corporations. Last year, the top 400 corporations paid an 11 percent tax. That is absolutely ludicrous. Senator klobuchar could i answer the question . Mr. Steyer so the answer on disabilities is a question of focus and money, as so many of these questions are. We have a country where the government is broken because corporations have bought it, theyre getting their way, and for us to get back to government of, by, and for the people that serves americans, including americans with disabilities, were going to have to take that back. Tim mr. Yang, i didnt hear a specific answer from mr. Steyer. Can you outline specific steps that the government should take to help integrate these young people into the workforce and into their local communities . Mr. Yang i would love it. I have a son with special needs. And to me, special needs is the new normal in this country. How many of you all have a Family Member or a friend or a neighbor with special needs or autism . [applause] as you look around, most hands went up. The fact is right now, we have to do more for kyle. Special Needs Children are going to become special needs adults in many cases. And heres the challenge. We go to employers and say, hey, this special needs person can be a contributor in your workplace, which may be correct, but thats not the point. We have to stop confusing economic value and human value. We have to be able to say to our kids and kyle that you have Intrinsic Value because youre an american and youre a human being. [applause] were going to put a freedom dividend of 1,000 a month in everyones hands, which is going to help families around the country adapt. And then were going to take this burden off of the communities and off of the schools who do not have the resources to support kids like my son and make it a federal priority, not a local one, so were not robbing peter to pay paul. Tim thank you, mr. Yang. We have to move on. [applause] tim senator warren, 45 seconds to you, please. Senator warren so i was a special education teacher. And i loved that work, because it gave me a chance to work straight out with people to recognize the worth of every human being. I had 4 to 6yearolds who were in special ed. And what do we need to do . Thats why i have a plan, as a special ed teacher, to fully fund idea, so every child with disabilities will get the full education they need. My housing plan is about [applause] investing in more housing across this country, in rural america, in urban america, in small town america, but its also about making sure that people who want to live independently, people who have disabilities, will have Housing Available to them. I make a part of my jobs bill that we are going to make sure as president , i will make sure that the people who want to bid on federal contracts are treating people with disabilities fairly and paying them fairly. [applause] youve got to go at it at every part of what we do, because as a nation, this is truly a measure of who we are. We believe in treating these, the least of thy brethren, as people of value. And that is how we make a better america. [applause] tim thank you, senator warren. Thank you, senator warren. Judy . Judy i know we have a lot of hands up. We have so many important topics to discuss. I want to come to you, senator klobuchar, on a question of the judges. President trump has appointed, as we know, two Supreme Court justices. But hes also had confirmed nearly 200 federal judges, most of whom are young and can shape american law for decades to come. Some of them you voted for in the senate, including one who just yesterday joined a ruling to strike down a key part of the Affordable Care act. Would President Trumps appointees my question is make it harder for you as president , for any of you on this stage to enact your agenda . Senator klobuchar of course. And i want to make it clear that i have opposed many, many judges. And i think everyone will remember what happened at the Kavanaugh Hearing when that nominee went after me. I stood my ground and he had to apologize. [applause] so i have been very strong on these judges. As for the judge you just referred to, there was actually the judge that wrote the opinion was a judge that went through the senate unanimously, with support by senator sanders, with support by president obama, with support by thensenator kennedy. So i think it is very important, when we look at these judges, to acknowledge that there are some of these judges that you think are going to be ok and they arent. But what would i do as president . I would appoint judges that are in the vein of people like elena kagan and Justice Breyer and sonia sotomayor, and lets not forget the notorious rbg. Thats what i would do. [applause] and if you look at my record as a lawyer and a member of the Judiciary Committee, look at the judges that i recommended to president obama, people like mimi wright, who is a superstar, and Susan Richard nelson. Look who ive put in as the first openly gay marshal in the history of the United States. I did that because i knew they were qualified people to take those jobs. And you need to do it not only with the right judges and have that knowhow, but you also have to do it right away. That is one thing that we all learned from when president obama was in, and that was that he was dealing with an economic crisis and it was hard to do it right away, but we have to immediately start putting judges on the bench to fill vacancies so that we can reverse the horrific nature of these trump judges. [applause] judy a followup to mayor buttigieg. Beyond a pledge not to overturn roe v. Wade, which i believe all of you have said would be part of your decisionmaking in choosing a nominee to the court, are there other litmus tests that you would apply in choosing federal judges . Mayor buttigieg the Supreme Court is very personal for me, because my household, my marriage exists by the grace of a single vote on that body. And, yes, it is critical that we have justices who understand that American Freedom includes reproductive rights and reproductive freedom. But thats not all. I expect an understanding that Voting Rights are human rights. I expect an understanding that equality is required of us all. And i expect a level of respect for the rule of law that prevents this body from coming to be viewed as just one more partisan battlefield, which is why i will not only appoint judges and justices who reflect this worldview, but also begin moving to reform the body itself, as our country has done at least half a dozen times in its history, so that it is not one more political battlefield every single time a vacancy comes up. [applause] judy yamiche . Yamiche senator sanders, at least 22 transgender people were killed in the United States this year, move of them transgender women of color. Each of you has said you would push for the passage of the equality act, a comprehensive lgbtq civil rights bill. But if elected, what more would you do to stop violence against transgender people . Senator sanders we need moral leadership in the white house. We need a president who will do everything humanly possible to end all forms of discrimination against the Transgender Community, against the africanamerican community, against the latino community, and against all minorities in this country. But above and beyond providing the moral leadership of trying to bring our people together, what we also need for the Transgender Community is to make sure that health care is available to every person in this country, regardless of their Sexual Orientation or their needs. And that is why i strongly support and have helped lead the effort for a medicare for all singlepayer program, which will provide comprehensive health care to all people, including certainly the Transgender Community. Yamiche thank you, senator sanders. Senator warren . [applause] senator warren the Transgender Community has been marginalized in every way possible. And one thing that the president of the United States can do is lift up attention, lift up their voices, lift up their lives. Heres a promise i make. I will go to the rose garden once every year to read the names of transgender women, of people of color, who have been killed in the past year. I will make sure that we read their names so that as a nation we are forced to address the particular vulnerability on homelessness. I will change the rules now that put people in prison based on their birth sex identification rather than their current identification. I will do everything i can to make sure that we are an america that leaves no one behind. Yamiche thank you, senator warren. Amna . [applause] amna Vice President biden, lets turn now to afghanistan. Confidential documents published last week by the Washington Post revealed that for years, senior u. S. Officials misled the public about the war in afghanistan. As Vice President fmr. Vp. Biden afghanistan, you said . Amna yes, sir, afghanistan. As Vice President , what did you know about the state of the war . And do you believe that you were honest with the American People about it . Fmr. Vp. Biden the reason i can speak to this its wellknown, if any of you followed it, my view on afghanistan i was sent by the president before we got sworn in to afghanistan to come back with a report. I said there was no comprehensive policy available. And then i got in a big fight for a long time with the pentagon because i strongly opposed the nationbuilding notion we set about. Rebuilding that country as a whole nation is beyond our capacity. I argued from the very beginning that we should have a policy that was based on an antiterrorism policy with a very small footprint that, in fact, only had special forces to deal with potential threats from that territory to the United States of america. The first thing i would do as president of the United States of america is to make sure that we brought all combat troops home, entered into a negotiation with the taliban. But i would leave behind special forces in small numbers to be able to deal with the potential threat unless we got a real good negotiation accomplished to deal with terrorism. Thats been my position from the beginning. Thats why i think secretary gates and some members of the pentagon werent happy with me. Amna mr. Biden, the question was about your time in the white house, though. Fmr. Vp. Biden im talking about the white house. Amna in that Washington Post report, theres a Senior National security official who said that there was constant pressure from the Obama White House to produce figures showing the troop surge was working, and im quoting from the report here, despite hard evidence to the contrary. What do you say to that . Fmr. Vp. Biden since 2009, go back and look. I was on the opposite side of that with the pentagon. The only reason i can speak to it now is because its been published. Its been published thoroughly. Im the guy from the beginning who argued that it was a big, big mistake to surge forces to afghanistan, period. We should not have done it. And i argued against it constantly. Amna senator sanders, you had your hand up. [applause] senator sanders well, in all due respect to my joe, joe, youre also the guy who helped lead us into the disastrous war in iraq. What we need to do is, i think, rethink and the Washington Post piece was very educational what we need to rethink is the entire war on terror. We have lost thousands of our own men and women, brave soldiers. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people have been killed abroad or forced to leave their countries. It is time right now that we bring this world together to try to end these endless wars and address the root causes which are causing these wars. Amna senator sanders, you do often point to your vote against the war in iraq as evidence of your judgment on Foreign Policy, but you did vote for the war in afghanistan. And as recently as 2015, you said you supported a continued u. S. Troop presence there. Was that support a mistake . Senator sanders well, only one person, my good friend, barbara lee, was right on that issue. She was the only person in the house to vote against the war in afghanistan. She was right. I was wrong. So was everybody else in the house. But to answer your question, i dont think you do what trump does and make Foreign Policy decisions based on a tweet at 3 a. M. In the morning or desert your longtime allies like the kurds. I think you work with the international community. You remove all troops over a period of time, a short period of time, within one year. Amna thank you, senator. Mayor buttigieg, you served in this war, but i want to ask about your decisionmaking if you were elected commanderinchief. You have pledged to withdraw all u. S. Troops from afghanistan within your first year as president , but the taliban today control or contest more than half the country. So should you as president still withdraw all those u. S. Troops if the country could once again become a haven for terrorists . Mayor buttigieg were going to leave one way or the other. The question is to make sure we do it well and not poorly. And of course, that has to respond to the conditions on the ground and the need for a political settlement. But, you know, the other day, i was reunited with somebody that id served with over there. And the thing we were marveling at is how long its been since we left. I thought i was one of the last troops turning out the lights when i left years ago, and were still there. There may need to be some kind of limited special operations and intelligence capacity, the exact same kind of thing, by the way, that we actually had in Syria Holding the line before the president yanked it out, leading to the road to chaos. But what we know is that we cannot go on with these endless wars. And im glad that the name of barbara lee was mentioned, not only because of what shes talked about years ago. I believe that we had no choice but to go to afghanistan after 9 11. But right now, she is one of the leaders of the effort to repeal and replace the authorization for the use of military force and the folks that i served with deserve that. They deserve the clarity of members of congress being able to summon the courage to take an upordown vote on whether they ought to be there in the first place. And when i am president , any time, if i am forced to deploy troops into war, any time we seek an authorization, it will have a threeyear sunset, so that if there really does have to be a conversation about extending it, it has to be brought to congress, brought to the American People, and those members of congress have to take that tough upordown vote. Amna thank you, mr. Mayor. Tim . Tim thanks, amna. Moving to health care, an issue that voters tell us every day is still the numberone priority for them, senator sanders, youve spent plenty of time discussing and defending the merits of your medicare for all plan. But the reality is that if republicans retain control of the u. S. Senate or even if democrats win back a narrow senate majority, your plan as constituted probably would not have the votes to pass congress. So the question, senator, is, if Congress Rejects your plan and the American People are looking to you for leadership on this issue, are there smaller specific measures that you would take immediately to expand coverage and decrease costs as president . Senator sanders well, tim, at a time when were spending twice as much per capita on health care as any other nation, when 87 Million People are uninsured or underinsured, when 30,000 people are dying each year because they dont get to a doctor when they should, and when a half a Million People are going bankrupt because of the dysfunctional and cruel system that we currently have, you know what . I think we will pass a medicare for all singlepayer system, and i will introduce that legislation in my first week in office. [applause] now, to answer your question, i think when we go out to the American People and tell them that right now we have got to take on the greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, for example, which in some cases charges us 10 times more for the same exact drug as is charged in this country, when the American People understand that medicare for all expands medicare to cover home health care, dental care, eyeglasses, and hearing aids, and does it at a cost far, far lower than what some of my opponents are talking about, you know what . Were going to have the American People behind us. We will have congress behind us. Tim thank you, senator sanders. Vice president biden, id like to bring you in. You spent an awful lot of time 10 years ago trying to pass a bill far less ambitious than what senator sanders is talking about here. Is he being realistic . Fmr. Vp. Biden i dont think it is realistic, but let me explain why. I introduced a plan to build on obamacare. Remind everybody, 20 Million People got insurance who didnt have it before. All people with preexisting conditions were able to be covered. I could go on. We didnt get all that we wanted. But now that its been exposed, that taking it away has such dire consequences, ive added to the obamacare plan the biden initiative, which is a public option, medicare if you want to have medicare, reducing significantly the price of drugs, deductibles, et cetera, by made by underwriting the plan to a tune of about 750 billion, and making sure that were able to cover everyone who is, in fact, able to be covered. Put your hand down for a second, bernie, ok . [laughter] senator sanders just waving to you, joe. Fmr. Vp. Biden i know. I know. Senator sanders saying hello. Fmr. Vp. Biden i know. [laughter] so, look, it covers everybody. Its realistic. And most importantly, it lets you choose what you want. Here you have 160 Million People who negotiated their Health Care Plans with their employer, like many of you have. You may or may not like it. If you dont like it, you can move into the public option that i propose in my plan. But if you like it, you shouldnt have you shouldnt have washington dictating to you, you cannot keep the plan you have. Tim thank you, Vice President biden. Senator sanders, 45 seconds to respond. Senator sanders under joes plan, essentially we retain the status quo. Fmr. Vp. Biden thats not true. Senator sanders it is exactly true. Senator klobuchar no, thats not right. Senator sanders and but thank you. And, by the way, joe, under your plan, you know, you asked me how are we going to pay for it . Under your plan, ill tell you how were paying for it right now. The average worker in america, their family makes 60,000 a year. That family is now paying 12,000 a year for health care, 20 of their income. Under medicare for all, that family will be paying 1,200 a year, because were eliminating the profiteering of the Drug Companies and the Insurance Companies and ending this byzantine and complex administration of thousands of separate Health Care Plans. Tim senator klobuchar, im going to come to you. Fmr. Vp. Biden my name was mentioned. Im the only guy thats not interrupted. Im the only guy thats not interrupted here, all right . And im going to interrupt now. It costs 30 trillion. Lets get that straight, 30 trillion over 10 years. Some say it costs 20 trillion. Some say it costs 40 trillion. The idea that youre going to be able to save that person making 60,000 a year on medicare for all is absolutely preposterous. 16 of the American Public is on medicare now and everybody has a tax taken out of their paycheck now. Tell me, youre going to add 84 more and theres not going to be higher taxes . At least before he was honest about it. Its going to increase personal taxes. Senator sanders thats right, we are going to increase personal taxes. But were eliminating premiums, were eliminating copayments, were eliminating deductibles, were eliminating all outofpocket expenses, and no family in america will spend more than 200 a year on prescription drugs. Senator klobuchar ok. Tim senator klobuchar, wed like to hear from wed like to hear from you. Senator klobuchar whoa, guys, hey. Ok, thats true. Ill say this. First of all, bernie, i promise, when i am your president , i will get our pharmaceutical bills done. And we have worked together on this time and time again. And i agree with you on that. But where i disagree is, i just dont think anyone has a monopoly on bold ideas. I think you can be progressive and practical at the same time. That is why i favor a public option, which is a nonprofit option, to bring the cost down. And, yes, it does bring the costs down immediately for 13 Million People, and then well expand coverage to 12 Million People. But heres the political problem. This fight that you guys are having isnt real. Your fight, bernie, is not with me or with Vice President biden. It is with all those bunch of those new house members, not every one by any means, that got elected in that last election in the Democratic Party. It is with the new governor, democratic governor of kentucky, that wants to build on obamacare. And the way i look at it, if you want to bridge build if you want cross a river over some troubled waters, you build a bridge, you dont blow one up. And i think that we should build on the Affordable Care act. Senator sanders she mentioned my name she mentioned she took my name in vain. She hurt my feelings. I am crushed. Can i respond . Senator klobuchar i would never do that to you. Senator sanders my fight, amy, is not with the governor of kentucky. My fight and all of our fights must be with the greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, with the greed and corruption of the insurance industry. These guys last year made 100 billion in profit and tens of millions of americans cannot afford to go to a doctor tonight. The day has got to come and joe is not talking about it, amy is not talking about it the day has got to come, and i will bring that day about, when we finally say to the Drug Companies and the Insurance Companies, the function of health care is to provide it for all of our people in a costeffective way, not to make massive profits for the Drug Companies and the Insurance Companies. Tim thank you, senator sanders. [applause] tim wed like wed like to bring you into this discussion. The same question to you that i posed to senator sanders, if Congress Rejects a medicare for all proposal and youre the president , are there smaller specific measures that you could pursue with bipartisan support to decrease costs and expand coverage . Senator warren so this is about costs. Its about costs on middleclass families. Last year, 36 million americans didnt have a prescription filled because they couldnt afford it. And those are people with health insurance, as well. People who cant do the copays, people who cant do the deductibles, people who find out that the drug is not covered. So heres how i approach this. I want to do the most good i can for the most people as quickly as possible. On day one, im going to attack the prices on commonly used drugs, like epipens and insulin, and bring down those prices. The president can do that i love saying this all by herself. And i will do it. Thats going to save families hundreds of millions of dollars. And then in the first 100 days, because i found a way to pay for full Health Care Coverage for everyone without raising taxes on middleclass families. Im going to make available to people for a full Health Care Coverage for 135 Million People. It will be at no cost at all. And they can opt into that system. Tim thank you, senator warren. Senator warren for others, it will be at a low cost. We have got to start moving and move fast. Tim we do have to move on. Senator warren we can do that we can do that on 50 votes. Tim thank you, senator. Judy . Judy we are coming to the end of our time. A lot of hands up, we apologize for that. But in the spirit of the season, id like to ask each one of you, is there someone else among these candidates that you would you have two options, one, a candidate from whom you would ask forgiveness for something maybe that was said tonight or another time, or or a candidate to whom you would like to give a gift. And im going to start with you, mr. Yang. Mr. Yang wow. [laughter] senator warren we can do a labor action and just all go on strike on this one, andrew. Mr. Yang i dont think i have much to ask forgiveness for. You all can correct me on this. In terms of a gift, elizabeth has done me the honor of starting to read my book. Senator warren yes. Mr. Yang i would love to give each of you a copy of my book. Its about how were going through the greatest Economic Transformation in our countrys history, the fourth industrial revolution. It is grinding up our communities. And d. C. Is out to lunch on this. Our media organizations are not covering it adequately. I wrote a book on it, and if you like data, this book is for you. This goes for the people at home, too, if you like data and books. Judy mayor buttigieg. [applause] mayor buttigieg, ask forgiveness or give a gift . Mayor buttigieg well, first of all, i love data and books, so i think we should all be excited about this. And come to think of it, i should probably send my book around more, too. Mr. Yang your publisher will thank you. Mayor buttigieg i think all of us will want the same thing at the end of the day. We know what a gift it would be to the future and to the country for literally anybody up here to become president of the United States compared to what weve got. [applause] and weve got to remember, there are i dont know how many now were up to 25 something have run for president in the Democratic Party. The moment weve got a nominee, the 24 who arent that nominee are going to have to rally around the one who does. Lets make sure theres not too much to ask forgiveness for by the time that day comes. [applause] judy senator warren . Senator warren i will ask for forgiveness. I know that sometimes i get really worked up, and sometimes i get a little hot. I dont really mean to. What happens is, when you do 100,000 selfies with people you hear enough stories about people who are really down to their last moments. You know, i met someone just last week in nevada who said that he has diabetes and that he has access to a prescription because hes a veteran. But his sister has diabetes and his daughter has diabetes, and they simply cant afford insulin. So the three of them spend all of their time figuring out how to stretch one insulin prescription among three people. When i think about what we could do if we get a majority in the house, a majority in the senate, and get back the white house, we could make this country work for people like that man. And thats why im in this fight. [applause] judy Vice President biden . Fmr. Vp. Biden i think everyone up here on this stage, and those who are not on this stage whove run, we owe them, because theyre all pushing for the exact same thing. Youre not the only one that does selfies, senator. Ive done thousands of them, thousands of them. And the crew that follows me can tell you, theres not one line i go through that i dont have at least a half a dozen people come up and hug me and say, can you help me . I just lost my daughter 10 days ago. Can you help me . Tell me im going to be ok. Can you help me . I just lost and they go and lay out their problems. My wife and i have a call list of somewhere between 20 and 100 people that we call at least every week or every month to tell them, im here. I give them my private phone number. They keep in touch with me. The little kid who says, i cant talk, what do i do . I have scores of these young women and men who i keep in contact with. And the reason i would give everyone here a gift is because they want to do Something Like i do of making their lives better, because theres a lot of people who are hurting very, very, very badly. [applause] judy senator sanders, forgiveness or a gift . Senator sanders well, i can give out any one of four books that i wrote. But i think the gift that all of us need to give to the American People is a very, very different vision of the reality of the Trump Administration. And the vision that we need to bring forth is to create a government and a nation based on love and compassion, not greed and hatred. [applause] we need a vision which says that in our great country, all of our people should be able to earn a decent standard of living, have health care, have the ability to send their kids to college, regardless of their income. So we need a new vision which brings our people together around an agenda that works for all, not the trump vision of dividing us up to benefit the billionaire class. Thats my vision. Judy senator klobuchar . Senator klobuchar well, i would ask for forgiveness any time any of you get mad at me. I can be blunt. But i am doing this because i think it is so important to pick the right candidate here. I do. I think when you see whats going on around the country, yes, its the economic check that elizabeth and bernie have so well pointed out on this stage, but theres Something Else going on here, and it is a decency check. It is a values check. It is a patriotism check. When you see people and weve all had this happen that come to our meetings and say, you know, yeah, i voted for donald trump, but i dont want to do it again, because i want my kids to be able to watch the president on tv and not mute the tv. We have to remember as democrats, and if i get worked up about this, its because i believe it so much in my heart, that we have to bring people with us and not shut them out. That is the gift we can give america in this election. [applause] judy mr. Steyer . Mr. Steyer so, look, this is the holiday season. And what im hearing from every single one of these candidates is that theyve gone around the United States and what theyve seen from this administration and what theyve seen from the Republican Party is cruelty towards the people of the United States for money. So when i think about the gift that id like to give and ive seen that, too. I mean, i think it starts with cruelty when children are born and it goes right through life into prek, education, health care, a living wage. There is cruelty to working people, there is cruelty to seniors. And so the gift that i would like to give everyone on this stage, which was the original question, is the gift of teamwork. Because the question up here is, how are we together going to change this framework . How are we together going to beat this corrupt and criminal president . How are we going to stand up for the people of the United States together, not by tearing each other down, but by supporting each other and by realizing that what we stand for is the true value of america . And as a team, thats how were going to do it. And as americans, were going to come together to stand up for the original values freedom, equality, justice, teamwork. Judy that we are going to take a very short break. That does conclude our questions tonight here at Loyola Marymount university. Well be back in just two minutes to hear the candidates closing statements. The pbs news hour debate continues live from Loyola Marymount university in los angeles. Judy welcome back to the pbs newshour democratic debate with politico. And now its time for closing statements. Each have 60 seconds, beginning with mr. Steyer. Mr. Steyer im different from everybody else on this stage, and heres why. Im running because corporations have bought our government and we need to return power to the people. And for the last 10 years, thats exactly what ive been doing, taking on unchecked corporate power. Thats why im for term limits, because if were going to have bold change, then we need new people in charge and new ideas. Im the only person on this stage whos built a large, multibilliondollar international business. I know how to grow prosperity. I can take on mr. Trump on the economy and beat him. Im the only one on this stage who said climate is my numberone priority. Its a crisis we have to deal with, but its also our greatest opportunity to create millions of goodpaying union jobs across the country and clean up the air and water in the black and brown communities where its so essential. So if you want to break the corporate stranglehold, beat mr. Trump on the economy, and solve our climate crisis, i can deliver. And im asking for your vote. Judy mr. Yang. Im sorry. My apology for interrupting. [applause] mr. Yang . Mr. Yang i know what youre thinking, america. How am i still on this stage with them . [laughter] our campaign is growing all the time because we are laserfocused on solving the real problems that got donald trump elected in the first place. I spent seven years helping create thousands of jobs in detroit, baltimore, new orleans, and other cities, serving as an ambassador of entrepreneurship under president obama, and i saw firsthand what many of you already know. Our country is falling apart. Our Senior Citizens are working until the day they die. Our kids are addicted to smartphones or drugs. Were seeing record high levels of depression and suicides, overdoses. Our companies are recording record profits while our people are literally dying younger. Our way of life is changing faster than ever, and the simple fact is this. Our politicians in d. C. Succeed whether we the people succeed or fail. Washington, d. C. , today is the richest city in our country. What do they produce . Bad decisions . We need to get the money out of d. C. And into your hands, the hands of the American People. Join us at yang2020. Com and help us rewrite the rules of the 21st century economy to work for us. Judy thank you. Senator klobuchar . Senator klobuchar we have had quite a debate tonight, but i want to debate donald trump. This primary comes down to some simple questions. Who has the best ideas, the best experience . Mostly, who can beat donald trump, and how will she do it . So donald trump built his fortune on, over time, over 413 million that he got from his dad. My grandpa, he was an iron ore miner, a union member, who worked 1,500 feet underground, and he saved money in a coffee can in the basement to send my dad to a community college. Thats my family trust. And i figure if you are given opportunity, you dont go into the world with a sense of entitlement. You go into it with a sense of obligation, an obligation to lift people up instead of hoarding what you have for yourself. Our politics right now, because of donald trump, are toxic. We need a leader who can bring people together and who can win that way. So if you are tired of the extremes in our politics and the noise and the nonsense, you have a home with me. If you want a bigger tent and a wider coalition and longer coattails, join me. We will win at amyklobuchar. Com. Judy thank you. Mayor buttigieg . Mayor buttigieg so the nominee is going to have to do two things defeat donald trump and unite the country as president. Its a tall order. And in order to do it, were going to need a nominee and a president who can respond to the crisis of belonging that is gripping our nation today. That means building up a politics that is defined not by who we exclude, not by who we reject, but by how many people we can call to this side. I have seen so many people capable of forming that multiracial, multigenerational coalition. And i am seeing more and more people who maybe have not felt welcome in the Democratic Party before but belong here now because theyre definitely not on board with whats going on in the trump white house. I am asking you to join me, to vote for me, to caucus for me, and to help us build that future defined not by exclusion, but by belonging. [applause] judy senator warren . Senator warren did you call my name . This is a dark moment in america, and yet i come here tonight with a heart filled with hope. All three of my brothers served in the military. Theyre all retired. Theyre all back in oklahoma. One is a democrat. Two are republicans. But you know what unites my three brothers . Amazon. They are furious that amazon reported 10 billion in profits and paid zero in taxes. My brothers are part of why america is ready to root out corruption and fight back. And that gives us a base to work from. America is ready for a two cent wealth tax. Its supported by republicans, democrats, and independents. And it lets us invest in all of our children. America is ready to expand Social Security payments and disability payments by 200 a month. And we can do it. You know, someone asked what this would mean. You just give somebody 200 a month, they asked me this in a town hall. And a lady who wanted it said, you know what it will mean to me . It will mean i can get a prescription filled and i can still buy toilet paper the same week. Thats where americans are right now. I am not working for millionaires and billionaires. Im here to work for the tens of millions of people across this country who are ready to build an america that wont just work for those at the top, but that will work for everyone. Judy thank you, senator. [applause] senator sanders . Senator sanders for 45 years, americans have been listening to great speeches. And at the end of the day, the average American Worker is not making a nickel more than he or she did in real wages over those 45 years. The truth is that real change always takes place real change always takes place from the bottom on up, never from the top on down. And that is why in this campaign i am so proud that we have over a million volunteers. We have some of the strongest grassroots organizations. We have raised more individual contributions than any candidate in American History. Please join the Political Revolution at berniesanders. Com. Lets defeat trump. Lets transform this country. Thank you. [applause] judy and finally, Vice President biden. Fmr. Vp. Biden i want to thank everyone listening seven days out from christmas. Thank you very much. Look, we all have big progressive plans. And the question is, who can deliver on those plans . And it seems to me, we have to ask ourselves three questions straight up and honestly. Who has the best chance, the most likely chance of defeating donald trump . Who is the one whos most likely to do that . Number two, who can help elect democrats to the United States senate in states like North Carolina and georgia and arizona and other states . And thirdly, who can deliver legislatively . That requires you to look at our records. I have a significant record of getting significant things done, from violence against women act to the chemical weapons treaty, in foreign and domestic policy alike. And so i think asking those questions, i believe, as you would expect, that im the most qualified to answer those three questions. But most of all, weve got to level with the American People. Dont play games with them. Tell them the truth and be authentic. God bless you all, and may you have a great, Great Holiday season. And thank you guys for doing this, as well. Judy thank you. Thank you very much. And that concludes the pbs newshourpolitico debate. I do want to thank my colleagues here at the moderator table, tim alberta of politico, amna nawaz and Yamiche Alcindor of the pbs newshour. Thank you all for joining us. Please stick around and watch pbs for some analysis. Thank you to the candidates. [applause] cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. We kick off authors week with breitbart. Coms entertainment editor to talk about the book 50 things they dont want you to know. The no kidsabout Hungry Campaign to combat childhood hunger in the u. S. Watch authors week featuring authors across the spectrum. All this week starting at 8 00 eastern each morning on washington journal. This sunday book tv features three new nonfiction books. 2 00 p. M. Eastern allen durso which allen durso offers his thoughts on how Sexual Misconduct accusation should be handled in his book guilt by accusation. I want to disprove it categorically. I have fbi interviews. Toave the emails she tried suppress. I have the tape recorders of her lawyers. There is no one that can read this book that can come away with any doubt whatsoever that this woman made up this story. I never met her. Out of her own mouth, i never met her. Then in her latest book the truth will set you free, but first it will pitch you off. Through essays. It is interesting to see what came before. Now the me too movement, thanks to this and technology and the web is now over the all over the world. It is a process. Now it is a majority consciousness. 9 00 p. M. Eastern, the university of maryland Baltimore County president on his book the empowered university. He is interviewed by the robin hood ceo. We are, through our work in at waysnities, looking to help students ask the hard critically, and appreciate the value of evidence in a society that is bombarding us information and different points of view, with things being confused about what is truth in what is not. Educated people should have the skills to ask the questions to lead to the evidence that can therefore determine what is true. Weekend book tv this and every weekend on cspan two. Day ay night onq end the book dignity about the plight of those living on the margins of society in america. It was a sunday morning, or a saturday, and it was empty. Industrial part of hunts point. Her intelligence came right through. We spoke for about an hour or half an hour. She told me her life. Ofwas like a cliche everything wrong that can happen to somebody. What illy i asked her asked everybody, which is what is one sentence to describe you . I am, a back what prostitute, a mother of six, and a child of god