Transcripts For CNNW Debate Night Democratic Leadership Debate 20170223

Right here in atlanta. These eight contenders vying to be the chair of the Democratic National committee. Here to discuss how to take on President Trumps agenda and hope to defeat his party in midterm and president ial elections. With republicans in control of the white house, congress and majority of state houses across the country, this may be the most consequential dnc chair election in more than a decade. Welcome president obamas former labor secretary tom perez. U. S. Congressman from minnesota, Keith Ellison, mayor of south bend, indiana, pete buttigieg. Chair of South Carolina Democratic Party, jaime harrison. The executive director of the idaho Democratic Party, Sally Boynton brown. Former rock the vote president , jehmu greene. U. S. Air force veteran sam ronan, and Voting Rights attorney peter a reminder of the ground rules. One minute to answer questions posed to you. 30 seconds for responses or rebar rebuttals, timing lights on the cameras to guide you and dana and i. Asking questions along with members of the audience who get to vote for chair of the dnc this weekend. No further ado. Thats right candidates. Lets get started. Now in the second month of President Trumps presidency. This weekend one of you will become dnc chair and leading voice of the opposition. Secretary perez start with you. You said that democrats should hit President Trump between the eyes with two by four and treat him like Mitch Mcconnell treated barack obama but also said would be for donald trump if he ensures everyone has access to the american dream. As dnc chair would you work with President Trump or work to stop him . I think donald trump from day one has showed that he has a far right agenda. He does not want to do what is necessary to move america forward. He wants to move america backward. Saw it two hours into the administration where he made it harder for first time home buyers to buy a home by rescinding obama rule that made it easier. Three hours later files a motion in texas to stay a proceeding on the case involving voter i. D. Law i was involved in. We have seen from the getgo this person wants to turn the clock back and Democratic Party needs to take the fight to donald trump. Whether we lead with our values, our conviction, thats how we succeed. And i lost my voice going all over the country. What im saying to people is, my voice may be crackly now, but when we take over by implementing 50 state strategy and making sure the democrats have a voice, that is how we return the power to the people. Thank you. Congressman ellison. Donald trump already brought the fight our way. Add on hes implemented ban for people based on religion. Said to build a wall. Already made it clear where he is coming from. But i think that the dnc has a special role to play. Yes the protests are awesome and i support them and participate in them. But we can help democrats win all over the country to get rid of donald trump and block the actions that are hurting americas all the time. Democrats lose elections, bad things happen to good people. We cannot stand back and tolerate it. And tool we have at our disposal is win elections. That means go to 3,143 counties all over this country. Turn on in the offyear and focus on turnout. Thats how we succeed. Mayor . Theres no question we have to bring the fight to donald trump. Every falsehood met with fact and outrage with response. But its also not all about donald trump. We got to get back to talking to people and about people in terms of their everyday lives. Not just politicians, ours or theirs. Talk about your values and every time he does something that insults our values and hurts real people and doing it every day, we have to stand up for people in terms of what it means in our actual lives. Donald trump is like computer virus in political system. Ties up minds and Processing Power with these equations that dont have solution and brain overheats and breaks down. Yes take the fight to him but dont let him dominate our imagination. Congressman, three people have publicly raised inspector of impeaching President Trump. Do you stand with them or with nancy pelosi who believes impeachment talk is premature. I believe hes already done a ton of things that raises possibility of impeachment. On day one in violation of the emollients clause. Part of the constitution that says as president you cant get from foreign power. Day people checked into his hotel and paying him, he was in violation of that law. Theres lawsuit against him. Its not just about donald trump but integrity of the presidency. I think begin investigations not to go after donald trump but protect our constitution and presidency of the United States. To make sure that nobody can monetize the presidency and make profit off it for their own gain. Miss greene . Absolutely. When he commits impeachable offense, the Democratic Party has to be that last line of defense for your constitution and for this country. We dont have the luxury to take a back seat as this man is arrogantly marching us towards fascism. So i am on the side of holding him accountable. But also on the side of knowing in this unprecedented political reality were living in, Democratic Party has to innovate how we organize, communicate and connect with voters so that the millions of americans who are in the streets today resisting this president understand that we are welcoming home for them. We will resist him in the house and senate and in the streets and the party will play that Important Role of protecting our constitution. Thank you. Mayor buttigieg. Youre an officer in the navy reserve and served in afghanistan, Previous Forum you called donald trump a draft dodging chicken hawk and warned against sending americans back into conflict. Sthat way americans running for office should talk about the commander in chief . This makes me emotional. Someone as millionaire son used privilege to avoid serving. Military service not for everybody but to see someone who did that tack someone who did serve and attack them over their service thats unconionable. He used his privilege to stay out of the military. I say i find myself feeling need to do things like call him something really tough because hes bringing out the worst in us, all of us. His supporters and his opponents. We need leaders to bring out the best in us. Thats what leadership is about and what the Democratic Party needs to do. You served in air force. Your response . Donald trump is a draft dodger, trying to send us into more frivolous wars and increase footprint in the middle east and not going to win anything, just send our boys and girls to their deaths. But its not enough to just condemn donald trump, look at his administration, all the democrats that supported him, everything that happened to empower this man to get to where he is, and as pete just said, my service means something to me. Raised right hand, one of the proudest moments of my life. Me and we all served. We know whats that like. To have someone flagrantly attack our service and gold star families as well is reprehensible. Must hold him to task, exactly what i would do as dnc chair. Bring you in on this. As mr. Ronan says, its easy to be negative if youre democrat right now. But is it enough . There was criticism democrats didnt have positive enough message. Is going negative going to get you where you need to be . Two things. I served in house of representatives as executive director when democrats took back the house in 2006 and nancy pelosi said we have to do two things to get back majority, take them down, paint the picture so the American People can see it and then demonstrate what it is that were for. Thats really important. Were in unprecedented times right now. For the first time in history had a Vice President that had to cast a tie vote to get a nominee into secretary position. Unprecedented to have a president go after the judiciary and media with such vitriol. Unprecedented in having antisemitic in the white house, unprecedented having Jeff Sessions in the judiciary department. Yes. We have to paint that picture but at the same time we have to show and not tell. Show the American People what we are all about. That is not just through flowery words but through our actions. Thats what were doing every day in South Carolina, going into communities, actually addressing the issues theyre dealing with. Thats really important for us to do as a party. Chairman harrison, thank you. You know how to make a case. What is the case for the democrats right now . The case for the democrats right now is to reenergize the entire Democratic Party from the ground up. Make the case that donald trump is unsuited for office. Done a number of things that are illegal, which were not about to stand for, violated number of rights and showing every inclination to continue violating them. Its not just an issue of taking on donald trump, the party has got there are a lot of reforms to engage to enable it to take on donald trump and entire Republican Party and cast of characters in the house and senate. Its not just donald trump, its reenergizing the Democratic Party from the ground up. In all 185,000 precincts in the country. Thank you. Congressman, on tuesday you criticized President Trump on twitter for not speaking out sooner on antisemitism. Some critics say right message but not right messenger. Youre dogged by allegations of antisemitism. Those are false allegations. I have 300 rabbis and Jewish Community members signed a letter supporting me. I dont have anything to say about this race but we know keith and hes a good man and always has been. Week ago in new york city with a Jewish Organization that stands up for refugees. Theyre saying we were once refugees and stood out in new york and demanded we have respect for refugees now. When i spoke at that, invoked the memory of the st. Louis where jews fleeing third reich were turned away in cuba with the knowledge of our government and sent back, many ended up perishing in the holocaust. I have a strong history of interfaith dialogue and communication. Thats why in my own community, i have strong support from the Jewish Community. These are smears and were fighting back every day with people who know us. But its critical to speak up against antisemitism. We have jewish cemeteries defaced and desecrated and communities getting bomb threats. We have to stand up for the Jewish Community. Right now. Thats what the Democratic Party is all about. And if youre the chair of the party, President Trump has made the relationship with israel central to his understanding of the region of the world, from your critics they will say Keith Ellison was somebody who said that israel could not be the only lens, all Foreign Policy said through the lens of only those many people. I voted for 27 billion in bilateral aid to israel over the course of many votes and been to the region and worked with them. Stalwart champion of the two state solution, need israel and palestinian state living side by side in peace and security. Made that a cornerstone of my advocacy. I believe that u. S. israel relationship is special and important. Stood for that my whole career and you can trust when im dnc chair that that relationship will continue. We will maintain bipartisan consensus of u. S. Support for israel if im the dnc chair. Thanks for addressing the criticisms. Bring in john, dnc member supporting Keith Ellison. Direct this question to miss boynton brown. Question is how do you build a bridge between those who voted for trump and those loyal to the party and affected by trump and executive orders. More bluntly how get a latino voting democrat with family facing deportation in the same room as democrat who voted for trump . I think its important that Democratic Party focuses on overarching message for all americans. Weve been for far too long communicating to specific communities specific messages. Missing values based message saying who we are as democrats and great work were doing in the country. We need to develop that message and deliver it to everybody and start coming together and teach each other empathy skills to have conversations and ask what were doing and figure out how to move forward and make america the country we want it to be. Its not hypothetical. You hear analysts saying how get people in the same room. That happens every day in my community. Those folks already in the same room and we have to as party recognize that the same struggle for belonging is true whether immigrant mom trying not to be divided from family or bluecollar auto worker or transgender kid who just needs to go to the bathroom. Republican lawmakers are facing protests in town halls in home districts. In 2010 republicans used Similar Energy from the tea party to take control of congress. How can democrats harness this energy and shift the power in washington . This energy is happening because the voters and people marching on the street understand that were facing the single biggest threat to our freedoms since we won them in the American Revolutionary war. And the Democratic Party has a real unique opportunity, transformative opportunity to open up our doors to people who in many ways have decided to start organizations, take daily actions without working with the party. Yesterday was Barbara Jordans birthday. In 1976 she toad up at Democratic National convention and said when people in this country in our history have looked for institution to uphold our values, it has always been the Democratic Party. And im afraid right now that is not happening. And its not happening because we need to do a better job of really looking at how we walk the talk of our values. And it would be very easy in this race to tell the voters exactly what they want to hear. Ive chosen the road less traveled, speaking uncomfortable truths about how we can do business as democrats in better ways to open up our doors. Includes caucuses, unintentionally disenfranchising to parents with children and shift workers and elderly and disabled. If we reimagine how we do business as democrats, millions of americans watch marching in the street will see were a home to them. Another dynamic in the Democratic Party right now. Last week a new progressive pac called we will replace you vowed to pressure democrats to oppose President Trump across the board or face primary challenges. You come from ohio, is absolute obstruction the right strategy for a democrat running in purple state like yours . No its not. And tied into sallys question and what jehmu just talked about. Cant tear everything down. In duopoly, if everything falls. Void filled by whatever takes over. Its not enough. Minorities and those without enough of a voice, give them their own seat at table and deliberate among themselves to see what they want heard and then bring to the leadership. If you want true equity and democratic process, you must give them a seat at table. Problem with disenfranchisement in country not that were not empowered. Not able to get out and fight but all the movements, protests. Womens movement and black lives matter and everything in between. They want to fight. As party we must embrace leadership and remove thumb and heel from them. They will flourish without any additional push. I want to stay on this theme and ask you about something specific. Democrats as you know are facing uphill battle to win the senate back. Ten Senate Democrats running for reelection in red states that donald trump won. One is Claire Mccaskel who voted to confirm a handful of President Trumps nominees and says shes worried about primary challenges because critics dont think shes pure. Is notion of purity test good for the Democratic Party . She was immense amount of support. Way were going to take back senate and house and state houses is get back to basics. Thats what we need to do as party. Have to make house calls and have a 12 month a year organizing presentation. I was in rural wisconsin and met a guy who said i feel politically homeless because the Democratic Party abandoned rural wisconsin. When were organizing and talking to people cant show up every fourth october and call it organizing strategy. Thats how with he take back the senate, the house and state houses. Thats why when we lead with our message of economic opportunity, thats how we win. But the question about primary challenge. If youre dnc chair and there are challenges from the left to incumbent democrats, will you support that, cheer them on or think thats mistake . The think the role of the dnc chair is let the progress run its course and we move forward when the general election moves ahead. Im confident that this year look across this country right now, in virginia at state house delegates level, they have more candidates than ever before. This energy is electric. January 20th undeniably important day but 21st and beyond even more important because people are rising up and saying donald trump, you do not stand for our value and theyre running for office. Thank you. Congressman ellison, what about the idea of a purity test. Seen in recent elections on the republican side not democratic. I agree with tom that the role of the dnc is to be neutral and fair to all primary contestants. I will call i will make a personal call and say lets not kill each other off guys. You know. But not publicly shame any democrat in a primary. Neutral and fair if im chair. But just say this, donald trump as deceptive as he was did say he was for jobs, trade, infra structure and protecting Social Security. Thats our message. Why he beat the other republicans. Stole democratic message. We do have to lead with values. Encourage democrats in all offices to stand up for Social Security, fair trade, good jobs and Infrastructure Investment and dont back off it. We should not in this moment think that moving away from what people are crying for is the right thing to do. With he need to go to what people need. People thank you congressman. Get to the crux of this. Two sobering statistics. 25 as you said 25 u. S. Senate seats up. Republicans need seven seats in the United States senate in order to get to 60. Meaning pass any legislation through the senate. In addition only need one more state in order to call a constitutional convention. If democrats want to be in a permanent minority, spend all our time and energy fighting each other. But if we want to actually fight back against donald trump, spend energy going after ted cruz and republicans who are up. We dont have the time, energy and all the people were fighting for each and every day dont have time for purity tests. Have to fight republicans, we cant fight each other. Thank you. I have a question for you specifically. President trump asserts that more than 3 Million People voted illegally in 2016. Hes offered no valid proof of this assertion, yet the perception has caught fire. Youve expressed concern about this perception and that it will lead to Chilling Effect and potentially more Voter Suppression, maybe more voter i. D. Laws. If that is true, what would be wrong with that . What would be wrong with more voter i. D. Laws . Is that the question . It is your choice to answer a question with a question. Yes. What would be wrong with more voter i. D. Laws is that the ones that exist are in general a violation of the u. S. Constitution. The Republican Party by and large has chosen to disenfranchise people in this country because of the color of their skin. Simply not allowed by our constitution. Courts have found that. Thats what would be wrong with more voter i. D. Laws. As far as mr. Trump. If he has proof of a crime. He ought to offer it. Get sworn in and say here are the names of the 3 Million People that i know about personally who voted. But he hasnt offered to do that, probably because those people dont exist. In terms of harnessing the energy here, i agree with tom and keith and jaime and others who expressed themselves. Way to harness that energy is locally. 133,000 precinct basis, go to the local people in the precincts and decide what issues are important to them locally and organize around those issues. Democratic issues, equal pay, fair trade, infrastructure, protecting Social Security and medicare but thats got to be done locally, if its done locally harness the energy. Youre over time. Sorry. Appreciate it. Yes. But context for this again, i understand why the room applauds, a room of democrats when you say voter i. D. Laws against the constitution but make the case to people who dont understand why offering an identification would be so on rus for people when they go to vote. Ive spent a substantial portion of my life doing these cases at department of justice. Give you facts and figures. We sued texas and won because over a ten year period, 46 million votes were cast, zero reported incidents of illegal noncitizen voting, two incidents of inperson voter fraud. 46 million votes cast. If we werent on television would call this a word that begins about. I will anyway. Its bunk. And its bunk in every other case. If youre in texas you have to drive 120 miles to get i. D. If youre poor, thats a poll tax. Thats what thats about. And important thing to know about this rule, and even though my voice is crackly, always be a voice for people disenfranchised in voter i. D. Laws because this is part of the republican playbook and doing it because it works. Thats why we need to make sure we are fighting this tooth and nail. Jehmu greene, get you in on this. This is uncomfortable truth we have to face as party. Your question about americans who think its okay to show an i. D. To vote because they show i. D. For many daily transactions. Majority of the democrats think that voter i. D. S is okay. This is why the Democratic Party has to shift the battlefield from Voter Suppression to voter expansion. Embrace universal registration. Voter registration in and of itself is barrier. We have to take lead with online voting and beat them at their own game. Only focus on Voter Suppression and work in the ports courts is critical but we have to increase turnout. You want 30 seconds or minute for new question. I have to deal with this issue. In minnesota in 2012 republicans put on the ballot a voter i. D. Law and in the beginning people said too many people think its good and we cant defeat it. I devoted entire campaign to defeating it. We knocked on doors and literally educated people on why voter i. D. Was expensive, excludeing people, unfair to veterans, people of color, law income people and seniors and ballot box that the dnc specializes it, we defeated voter i. D. In 2012. It can be beat there and must be and dnc chair, we will employ lawyers but what we really do is win elections. We won that and im proud we did. 30 seconds for a question on sanctuary states. California is trying to pass a law to keep state and local Law Enforcement from helping federal authorities enforce immigration laws. Do you think thats the right thing to do . Think it is right and proper for states and local communities to devote their precious resources to protecting their people. I dont like the federal government saying were going to punish you and deprive resources because you wont allow the federal government to nationalize your local and state police department. Its wrong and unfair. Let me tell you, Many Police Officers around the country will tell you lot of folks victims of Domestic Violence will be reluctant to call because they fear they will be deported. This is a very bad policy. I stand by california and all the other cities. Thank you. Miss boynton brown, you understand the situation out west. What is your follow on the counterargument which is youre Law Enforcement officer, there to enforce the law. Enters the country illegally, theyve broken the law and supposed to help the immigration services. State control is important. States have the right to pass their laws and have citizens in their state follow those laws. Theres a place for the federal government but the Republican Party been saying forever that federal government has too much power. This is one area that i agree with the republicans. Federal government has too much power. We need to make sure all states have the ability to come back and follow their local laws and pass those local laws. Theres way too many instances of that just not happening. Education is another great example where we need to empower the states. And ill tell you, this is really important for the dnc race. Were having that exact same conversation around the state parties. As dnc chair its federal position but entirely too focused on the president position. We need to make sure we come back. Democratic position should be that states should not work with i. C. E. Is that what you stand for . Mr. Secretary. We can call answer. Said chairman. That was a test. You all passed. If you didnt answer to chair, think about while youre there. Democrats say every state should take care of itself, dont work with i. C. E. If it doesnt work for you . I sued a guy, former sheriff of mar maricopa county, words os Police Officers, he built a wall of distrust between the police and the community. Most important currency that a Police Officer has is trust from the community. When ayou allow this to happen, undermine trust. Person who is victim of Sexual Assault doesnt report it, victim of Human Trafficking doesnt report it. Thats why its bad public policy. Chairman harrison . I totally agree. Its about trust and protecting vulnerable in these communities. They need to be able to feel like they can call the police and not be in danger of being separated from their children. Republicans talk about being the party of family values but right ripping children away from their parents. Young kids in this country after donald trump was elected president that could not sleep at night, wet the bed in this country because of the fear that all of his rhetoric placed in them. We have to do better in this country. We are the land of the free and, you know, look at basement of the statue of liberty. Bring me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Thats what we are. Nation of immigrants. Not fear mongers. And we have to stop it. Thank you. Chairman we have to do better as democrats with effective messaging. Im sorry your question was wrong. When you enter this country illegally its civil offense, not criminal. And no human being can be illegal. We as candidates for this position need to understand that we cant just be reactive from messaging but proactive. And thats something weve failed to do and we need to do it better. Whether its connecting with voters, heart first, whether its using new tools from communications standpoint, and whether it is clarifying and holding the media accountable when they get the story wrong about democrats and about the American People, we need to be the ones to speak up. General with the la jehmu greene with the last word. We have to go to break. Well be right back. Only at t offers you all your live channels and dvr on your devices. Datafree. Entertainment. Your way. Only from at t. That has everything to do with the people in here. 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Secretary perez, recently you said that the primary was rigged against Bernie Sanders. Later the same day you said you misspoke when you made those comments. Which is it . Heres the facts. Hillary clinton won the democratic primary. Hillary clinton also won the popular vote. At the same time because of the absence of transparency in the democratic primary, there was a crisis of trust that ensued. What we need in the chair of the Democratic Party is to make sure that in fact and in perception, every single day you are fair and neutral. Thats why when you asked question before about primaries, you have to let that process go. If i have i privilege of winning, for instance one of the things i recommend is set the primary debate schedule long in advance of when we know who the candidates are, we have to do everything to make sure were fair and transparent. Not only it the way of setting primary process, but dnc is black hole and we have a crisis of confidence because it. Thats why the leader of the dnc needs to make sure were secretary, ten seconds, rigged or not . Again, the process because of the absence of transparency created that crisis of relevance and distrust that people didnt trust the outcome. Mr. Ronan, was it rigged or not . Thank you. Was going to interrupt anyway. Not only was the primary rigged but also rigged across the country because the dnc has never allowed outsiders or brand new people to rise through the ranks. Always been insider game and been that way for a long time. Thats where the lack of trust has come into play. Not onlies with Bernie Sanders snubbed and looked like Hillary Clinton had muscled her way into it, then the supporters were denied chance to speak at convention and that was final straw. If people dont have equitable voice people are not going to trust the system and go out of their way to break it. Secretary perez, is mr. Ronan wrong . We meet every single day as leader of the Civil Rights Division and hope to be leader of the Democratic Party we have to do everything in transparent fashion and when you do that, we have to i think thats a long way of saying no. Mr. Mayor, why . Why i was motivated to get into this. Cant allow to devolve into factional trouble. Of course problems. I didnt love living through it first time, i dont know why as party want to live through it a second time. Weve got to look forward, not back. Wolf isnt just at gates but through the gates and eating our sheep. This idea this is going to be a factional struggle between bernie wing and establishment wing is missing point. We have to take to the real establishment, the republicans who are in charge of everything from reality is world moved to place where Democratic Party is not keeping up with it. More independents than registered party people and those independents want a place to play in the primary system. You have a system thats been in place as sam said thats no longer serving people in the country. I talk a lot about new power. You can go to this is new power. Com and this is what the people in our country are demanding our systems go towards. Collaborative, inclusive and transparent. Its an issue that has to be dealt with and cant throw under the rug and say we have to move forward. Picking up on that point, must not be swept under the rug but dealt with. How . Issue apology to Bernie Sanders . Own what happened . How do you move forward if you dont own the past . Donna brazil went to bernie supporters and issued apology. That happened. Now we have a Unity Commission appointed by someone in this room. And we have to make sure in the future that every person that wants to vote for democrat must feel it was fair, open, accessible and transparent. Thats mission but im telling you real problem is ahead of us. People are organizing in the street right now. I believe im unity candidate because i supported both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and i believe i can pull people together to come together as party and win elections so we dont have go through this anymore. Donald trump is wreaking havoc on the American People and Democratic Party has to be the agent of the American People, not an agent unto itself. So i believe we have to move forward and not engage in the ruinous who shot john, but come together and fight the real enemy. I agree with keith but one of the first lessons you learn in politics is perception becomes reality. For a number of folks they do believe use the terminology rigged. One of the things, im a lawyer, what is the definition of rigged . Are we saying that Voting Machines with are rigged for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders . Sam is that what youre saying . No im saying the system in of itself is exclusive to just the people in charge. Thats the problem. But when we say election is rigged, in the minds of folks people are stealing somebodys vote and giving it to somebody else. Language is very important in this. Part of the problem we had as early primary state, lot of people didnt understand what the primary system was like. Didnt understand what the role of superdelegates or unpledged delegates or the role they played. First job we have to do as party is make sure were transparent enough to educate people about the process to know the difference between mr. Ronan, respond. Thank you. First of all, thank you jaime for the passion. You bring up a valid point. Its superdelegate system, closed primaries and people not knowing how it works. Go to democrats dot organi. Org figure out who the people are. We need to get rid of superdelegates and money and upper crust influence and also stop playing the same tired games. Just in florida there was perception as you say that florida chairman somehow managed to play a game. Whether its true or not is irrelevant, its the perception. We must needs come together and fix that. Bring you in on this issue of superdelegates. Has their time passed . Is there a better way . If so, what . First every democrat and most americans because we did win the popular vote know which election was rigged. Period. To the superdelegate issue. Hang on, election was rigged . President didnt win the election . If there was one vote influenced by russian meddling clearleaded on by this man in the white house then that election was influenced by Foreign Government and cheerleaded on by the man in the white house right now. But to the point of the superdelegates and this issue, the next chair of the dnc has to acknowledge the wounds that the Bernie Sanders supporters have coming out of 2016 and also acknowledge there are real wounds for Hillary Clinton supporters who feel there was no attention to the sexism and misogyny that she faced. But the real answer chris is specific prescriptions to get there and tackling superdelegates is one of those answers. Im the only candidate who has said ill go to the Unity Commission and ask them to retire this tainted concept. And it was tainted before 2016. And our problems were talking about cant be solely focused in on 2016, its superdelegates, caucuses, transforming how we meet and accountability. Youre over time. Thank you. Turn to different question in the same vein about the future versus the past and give you to you, ms. Boynton brown. Hillary clinton did get about 3 million more votes than donald trump. With that base of support would it be good for the Democratic Party for Hillary Clinton to run again . Important thing to remember as Democratic Party is were here for small d democracy. If they wants her name on the ballot again, thats her zichlgts our job is run a fair process where anybody can put their name on the ballot and we support and dont give preferential treatment because done it before and been here a long time. Obviously cant tell people whether to run but as party and if you were the chair of the Democratic Party do you honestly think would be good or bad . I think youre not understanding our point. As leader of our party its not my job to say my opinion on that. Its American Peoples job in primary. Thats what its designed for. And i want to ask you about the question about not just Hillary Clinton, joe biden, Bernie Sanders, are you on the same page . Me . Chairm harrison. You can answer as well. Ill be happy to answer. Anybody who wants to run should run. It is the role of the chair as i put on my website, first time it went up, that it is the role of the party chair per the charter to be impartial and evenhanded with respect to all the candidates in all the campaigns. Thats role of the party chair and what these people are saying. I made it quite clear that some of the future forums held earlier in number of cities, if im chair ill be impartial, all the people that work for the dnc are going to be impartial or theyre not going to be working for the dnc and ill arrange that as ceo. And all the officers per the charter are supposed to be impartial. They dont work for me but for the Democratic National committee. If it looks like any of the officers not impartial or evenhanded, i told members of the Democratic National committee and others at those meetings, i will take those officers to the committee for such actions that the committee wants to take which includes taking them off the committee. This is an example one at a time. In short whoever wants to run should run and there are qualifications for running for the democratic nomination. And i believe, explicit in this. Its up to the democrats in this nation to make a determination of who their nominee. Is its up to the American People who say theyre democrats to make that decision. One second. I want to get audience question in here. Seriously going to answer a question about Hillary Clinton and joe biden when there are 13,000 women who signed up and want to run for office since the november elections . Need to be training and mentoring them and this conversation, this narrative, i know this is exactly what you all want to do because its entertaining but this is not what were about right now. We need to go out to all of that energy out there and say im in. Thats what we need to be talking about. Thank you. Get to another important issue that happened in 2016 election, that the party got hacked by russian government. On that bring in nathan smith, member from kentucky leaning towards secretary perez but undecided. Ask the question. As dnc committee chair, what are you going to do to protect democrats from hacking of Foreign Countries in the future . Thats a simple mr. Mayor first. One second mr. Ronan. Pretty sure as Information Warfare officer, only person up here with formal cybersecurity training. And i believe are you in information . We all do that kind of thing. I qualified Information Warfare including cyber. I learned two pillars to this. System side, gotten a lot of attention. Also the human side. We have to train ourselves because the weakest link is usually a person who can be fooled or tricked or has issue with passwords. We have to have comprehensive plan not just thinking its i. It. Thats the question we ask when treat the presidency as only office that matters. Republican side quietly built majorities at state level and its not just about white house. Fail to recognize that we get into trouble even when we have the white house. Having policies obstructed and right now, when we dont have it thats when we doctor. My response to betsy devoss nomination, dont get mad i want to get to mr. Ronan. Sorry about interrupting, i jumped the gun. Take away the technology. 30 years down the road. For now we have a solution, universal Voter Engagement and paper ballots and Postal Service front and center. Can hold the paper ballots for four years. Like the military maintenance keep records for decades. Seen stuff before i was born. We can keep the voting records so if theres records of foul play we can look. We have a lot more to discuss with the candidates here, running for the chair of the Democratic National committee. Stay with us after this break. I realize that ah, that 100k is not exactly a fortune. Well, a 103 yeah, 103. Well, let me ask you guys. How long did it take you two to save that . A long time. Then its a fortune. Well, im sure you talk to people all the time who think 100k is just pocket change. Right now were just talking to you. I told you we had a fortune. Yes, you did. Getting closer to your investment goals starts with a conversation. Schedule a complimentary goal Planning Session today. With not food, become food . Thankfully at panera, 100 of our food is 100 clean. No artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. Panera. Food as it should be. My name is danita seaton. Im a Gas Service Representative for pg e here in oakland. When i work in oakland, i feel like im home, because i grew up here in oakland, my family still lives here. Every time i go to the customers house, i treat them like theyre my family. If they smell gas, or they dont have hot water, im there to ensure that by the time that i leave, they feel safe and they can go back to their day to day life. To learn more about gas safety in your home, visit pge. Com safety together, were building a better california. Welcome back to the democratic Leadership Debate in atlanta. I want to start bringing in terry anderson, long time activist and dnc member from vermont, supporting congressman ellison. Question . In many rural parts of the country bleeding vote tosses the republicans. Not just in last president ial election but several cycles now. Democrats not connecting well with rural voters. Why do you think its happening and what as chair would you do about that . Mr. Mayor. Coming from indiana, i know what you mean. But know it can be done. Not only in city like mine able to win but rural areas next to us in mike pences indiana, supported joe taylor and got him elected. Democrat in district that trump won by six. Few things are important. First of all show up everywhere, even in the counties where were going to get beaten for a long time. Still show up. Matters if its 80 20 or 60 40. Matters in a whole district or state. And importance of the 50 state strategy that was dismantled. Everybody up here saying we need to get back to that. As only candidate endorsed by architect of that, howard dean, know how to get that done. First ran, five out of eight members were democrats and then decimated and down to two. I know what it means to compete and win in deputy red territory, you have to talk to people about their lives and not politicians. I want to ask about the electoral map. Secretary clinton failed to carry states that would have delivered white house to democrats had she won. President trump rallied people in the states coming out against tpp and other trade agreements. As labor secretary you defended tpp. Why are you right messenger to bring workingclass voters back to the party . Implicit in the question is tom isot a progressive. We fought for increasing minimum wage, implemented overtime rule and attacks for income security. Proud called the best labor secretary since Francis Perkins and i moved forward and part of team obama and im proud. As part of the team dont go ill play here and there. Talking about trade i was always talking about American Worker and thats why i have support of people from the labor movement. We have to get back in Rural America, in ohio we werent making house calls. Thats precisely why we lost. I was in northwestern wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. What i heard from one voter is i feel politically homeless because you stopped showing up. Wasnt simply we were ignored but disrespected. So mr. Secretary, just back to the initial question on trade. Thats what we can accomplish. You said trade agreements like the tpp are critical to 21st century competitiveness. Do you stand by that now . Its dead. Been dead since last august or september. Issue is how are we going to move forward in response to your map. I think a big part is weve got to tell our message of economic security. Work that i did, lifting wages, work we did making sure when people work overtime they get paid overtime. Work we did making sure that when youre saving for retirement, adviser is looking out for your best interests. These are the issues that keep people up at night. Thank you secretary. I want to get to another issue thats important to democrats. Asking a question of congress ellison, thank you so much. Gun control. In 2014 you told bill maher you wished the Democratic Party would come out against the Second Amendment. How do you reach out to americans who support gun rights when you dont support the Second Amendment. First of all, i remember that show very well and not what i said at all. I talked about grandfathers shotgun and fact im a turkey hunter. I didnt say that. Not accurate statement. But let me tell you, go hunting with a friend named colin peterson, a conservative democrat in rural minnesota and he asked me to speak to seventh Congressional District dinner. Im there talking about rural voters about the things that matter to them. And what really does matter is jobs, chance for life for their kids and how trade has devastated their family. Wake up in the morning hoping that the plant doesnt close all over the country. And when they do close, people sometimes get jobs again but maybe 10 an hour less and really hurt this country. So look im a believer for people to be able to own guns but truth is that guns do knot need we do need background checks and need to address the fact that people are getting murdered across the country and none seem to bother the nra. Ill read exactly. Bill maher, why doesnt your party come out against the Second Amendment. Its the problem. Your sfons. I sure wish they would. I wish you would play the tape. If you did, could see it did not go that way. But this country absolutely for the right to bear arms but not for the murders that happen every day. 27 kids killed in sandy hook in my district. Guy comes to his job and kills his coworkers. Owners son left fatherless. We have a serious problem in the country around guns and think its absolutely not its false choice to say going to ban the Second Amendment or have common sense gun safety laws. Im for common sense gun safety laws. Use the right words talking about these issues. Also the right to not be taken out of context. I hope people go back and look at the tape. What did you mean mr. Mayor. One of the reasons people tune us out immediately but there are ways to talk about this. Im from indiana, and i took heat. I support the Second Amendment. Spent thanksgiving morning in a deer blind with my boyfriends father. How thats that for 2017 sentence . But when i came out for universal background checks theres a way to talk about this. Going to funerals and consoling mothers. I talked about swearing in Police Officers with spouses at their side praying theyre going to come home safe every day and wanting them not at arms disadvantage. And talked about going outside the wire with pistol on hip and rifle on shoulder in vehicle knowing the difference between the weapons that believe on the streets of kabul, afghanistan and what belong here. Respond . I think its right to connect to the people where we are. Part of the country we live in, wake up and hope another mass murder not happen. I remember the day friend was shot in the face and congress didnt take action. But i believe people around this country understand this is a problem. We dont want to take their guns away, this is a false narrative the nra is pushing, we want to support the rights but issue of the perception of the party and how each would want to rebuild it. Ms. Boynton brown you said your job is to shut other white people down when they try to say their prejudiced. This was seized upon by critics of the party. Seeing this is shaming white people and critics. Its unfortunate that the altright takes people out of context and conversations unsaid. Specific conversation with the Democratic Party about how we accomplish the goal of inclusiveness and making sure we listen to each other. When were having conversations with people trying to share their experiences were present and not talking over the top of each other. For years been Inclusive Party and its time we show with our actions that inclusivity is what were committed to. That was the conversation being had. Back to Rural America, its important topic. Reality is we need people lifted up into the dnc leadership and strategy making that understand Rural America. So when were going and having conversations, no matter what they are, having them in the right ways. You have to communicate to Rural America differently than how you run for president of the United States. Another group you could describe the way she is, people to speak to more directly as democrats would be millennials. Talk about this a lot. Say it was grievious mistake to ignore the passions of millennial voters. How was it done and how remedy . It goes back to having the thumb on everybody else who would participate and back to ohio, losing by 80 to 20 or 60 to 40, all comes together. We dont include people in the process. Thats the issue. Focusing on attacking trump and problems in Rural America, guns and this and that but not addressing the issue. People dont have a voice in government. They simply dont. Process is difficult, hidden and enclosed. Need to be more open and transparent, needs to be simpler and get money out of politics. Biggest concern ive ran across with people not just on social media but in person feel like voice is drowned out by almighty dollar. Get rid of money. Get people running for office. I know im running out of time but push just a little bit longer. When i ran for state representative, i went to county chair and asked point blank, can you help me . No. Odp, we will help the top six candidates. Elitism. Not going to bring us back or millennials back. Thank you. Secretary perez. I think theres a couple of important mentions. Points to focus on. First dimension is attitudinal. This is about the culture change that needs to happen at dnc. All too frequently give a millennial seat at table and pat him on the head, say you got your seat. Now shut up. We have to change that approach. Im a big believer. Diversity is invited to the dance. Inclusion is asked to dance. We have to engage in diversity and inclusion. Second point is investments. Budgets are moral documents. If someone says issue is important, i want to look at your budget. If the Democratic Party were to say millennial engagement is important, look at budget, its not reflected. Jehmu greene and then mr. Mayor. As somebody who wrote the playbook on how you get young voters to turn out by increasing at rock the vote by 11 , i understand very clearly what needs to happen on this issue. And certainly budget reform, to reflect that millennials are not the future of the party, they are the now of our party. And how we better engage with them is that we innovate how we operate as party. Look at experimentation and disruption in ways that have not been welcomed into the party. Millennials can do that. Thats why i call for building innovation hubs at every station of the party so young people come in, learn experimentation, understand its okay to fail up. But what has to happen, conduct business differently. Meetings less complex. Leadership opportunities easily accessible. Fully promote them. Also have to understand there are some inclusive issues that we have as a party that need to be tackled. And we can do that by making sure that state parties do implicit bias training, publish their staff and contracting diversity data. Over time. Important to millennials and collaborative. Mr. Mayor, youre a millennial. What do you have to say. One thing is put a 35yearold in as chair of the dnc. I know how it feels. In sixth year as mayor of our city. Reelected with 80 of the vote but still occasionally confused for one of my own interns. Know what it feels like to be patted on the head and told youre the future. Best way in the present is engage at every level including leadership. Every important change in our country is driven by young people. Happening again. Womens march not driven by the party, politicians. It was multigenerational and lot of young people out there who may or may not think of themselves as democrats. As only person who is candidate here who went to the womens march can tell you its something you want to be part it, something positive. Showing what we were opposed to and concern and moral line in the sand but Something Else. This is a season for happy warriors. You could feel it there and in the other things rising up around the country. Question for the party, do we lead it or racing to catch up. Turn to the issue of rebuilding in the future. Could coming to you mr. Chairman. Specifically state parties. You said president obamas political arm organizing for america killed state parties. What did you mean by that . It killed state parties. But how . In 2006 howard dean started a 50 state strategy and he was architect but state party chairs pushed howard dean in order to start that program. We started that and invested in state parties and won in places with he never thought. I remember ruahm emanuel and den fights and in 2008 added to majorities in house and senate and won the white house. When barack obama had his hand on the bible taking oath of office we had majority in the house, senate, white house. Had majority in governorships, secretaries of state and attorneys general. Controlled local and national. What happened at that moment . Ofa remained the debt from president obamas campaign went to the dnc and money that howard dean placed in state parties decreased almost to zero. State parties in this country are broken. Some state parties right now in two years defending one of the 25 u. S. Senate seats or have governorship and trying to win back state house and barically 35,000 cash on hand. You cant win if you dont have the capacity. You worked for president obama obviously. In official governing capacity. But what do you say to chairman harrison about the idea that he basically dploepleted the st parties. Agree with that . How going to fix it . I absolutely agree with it. Said it a number of times. Key is go to school on it. What we have to do is not only up our investments but get back to the service culture. Its yurlt change. There was a question about cybersecurity. State parties cant afford to have a chief technology officer. Dnc has to do that job. When youre recruiting candidates, dnc ought to be helping train them. When were hiring organizers, dnc should be training them. When alaska flips to become democratic or kansas in a year when trump wins by 14 points they pick up 14 seats in state legislature, we should have a center for best practices to go to school on what happened there and take those lessons. Thats what we have to do. When were building that infrastructure, getting back to basics and going to Rural America saying we are here and you know what, we stand for economic opportunity, we are the Democratic Party, thats how we turn it around. Its got to be longterm thank you. Investments. Were too shortterm too frequently. Turn to Something Else that was talked about before the break about what is going on in and around the country and look at another map. Six states only had democratic governors and state legislatures. In the last eight years more than 900 seats in state legislatures went from democrat to republican and mostply legislatures draw the districts and big reason why the republicans maintained control of the house of representatives where you serve. What would you do so democrats are in better position to redraw the map. Redistricting got to be one of the Top Priorities of the dnc from the very beginning. Dnc chairman needs to engage state parties and win state legislatures all over the country to positioned and ready. But that means winning in 2018 and 2017 in new jersey and virginia. It is a simple matter of turning on in the off year. Campaigning everywhere. Thats why in the 100 day plan im releasing tonight, i call for one, immediate listening session right after the election on february 25th, ask dnc members to talk to democrats all over the country and listen to them and engage them. And then a summer canvas to knock doors all over the country, powered by volunteers, many of the people at marches and rallies and win state legislatures and focus on the jo downballot issues. Win up and down from the dog catcher all the way up. Congressman, thank you. Mr. Peckarsky . The reality is all of us probably do the same thing if elected chair in terms of reforming the party and getting the Party Working again at local level. Regain seats all over this country. In wyoming last weekend listening to wyoming democrats talking about what they need to do, tough row to hoe, its different from california or new york. But we have a lot of problems with the election process. I happen to be expert in the election process and election, real question to be answered here, its on my website, voting members know what will happen if im elected chair but voting members ought to have answered between now and the vote, what do my respected colleagues intend to do to protect the voting process. Thats what i have to say. Any of get in, its same thing, reenergizing the party on local basis. Hold on, we have to take a quick break and back with more from the democratic Leadership Debate. Say goodbye to extra taxes and fees on your wireless bill and hello to tmobile one. Right now, get 2 lines of unlimited data for 100 bucks taxes and fees included. 2 lines, 100 dollars. All in, all unlimited. Switch today. [car[clicking of ignition]rt] uh wha woof eeh woof wuh [silence] [engine roars to life] [dog howls] dramatic opera music swells from radio [howling continues] if you have moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection, or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. All right, welcome back to the cnn debate, race to be the chair of the Democratic Party. All eight candidates here. Next question, only one of you eight have the distinction as having received a compliment from the president. President trump paid you highest compliment. One thing ill say, in the fight to lead the dnc, hes the one who predicted early that i would win. Do you welcome the president s praise . I dont really welcome praise from President Trump, really pains me to say those two words. The fact that i can that i can tell you this. I can tell by july 2015, he had a lot of momentum and he was gathering large crowds and that when he got up and talked about trade and ttp, nafta, jobs, infrastructure, even though he was bad on all those issues, he was gathering crowds and telling people what they wanted to haefrhear. I believe those are our issues. Fair trade is our issue. Why the endorsed me and steele workers and after the disturbance with freddie gray, told me, we used to have 30,000 Steel Workers in baltimore and now three. Hit hard by policies over the last four decades. Wages stagnated and Democratic Party has to be the party fighting for working people every single day. Always have to be on the side of the worker, never be found standing on the other side from people trying to make a living. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Economic issues and cultural ones. Earlier this evening President Trumps administration withdrew the obama era guidance that allowed transgender students to use the bath room of their choice. Person to attack. When youre a transgender teenager, high school is a complicated and when youre any teenager, high school is complicated and intimidating choice. To make it harder on one of the most vulnerable parts of the population suicide rates for teenagers as whole and for lgbt went down after passing marriage equality. If your teachers cant tell the difference between you and predator, telling teenagers this is what you are, shouldnt be surprised pushing into mental problems. This is part of bigger thing. Primary school west side of south bend, lawyers lined up to inform people with rights and how to keep families together. Went to talk to parents and went into the School Library to meet kids from high school. Volunteering to hang out with the children there. Part of me inspired they were doing that but part of me thought this is part of Donald Trumps america, one of the things you volunteer on. I volunteered on trash pickup, category now as High School Student is comfort and play with children while their terrified parents in another room trying to desperately keep families together. Thats why democrats are the true party of family. Thank you. Argument of the administration is essentially tenth amendment. This is returning powers to the state. They decide the rule of education. Its not federal governments place. Americas job is protect all the people. This is protection issue. There are legitimate reasons to return power to the states. This isnt one of them. Federal government has federal responsibility to make sure that all of our citizens constitution