Transcripts For CNNW Julian Castro CNN Presidential Town Hall 20190412

In the Obama Administration. Hes calling the president s policies cruel and an absolute failure. If elected he would be the first latino president. Democrats and independents plan to participate in the democratic primaries and caucuses. Without further ado, everyone, please give a very warm welcome to secretary Julian Castro. Thank you. How are you . So good to see you. Looking good. Hear the crowd from back there. Have a seat. As you know theres always news lately. I want to ask you this, before we get to the audience questions. Cnn has confirmed a report in the Washington Post that the Trump Administration pressured the department of Homeland Security to release Immigrants Detained at the border into socalled sanctuary cities to retaliate against democrats who opposed trumps plans for a border wall. Give me your reaction. That the cruelty of this Administration Never seems to end. You know, a year ago this administration told us that as americans if we would just be cruel enough to separate little children from their parents that that would deter more families from coming to our southern border. And, in fact, the popposite has happened. Its amazing what lengths theyre going to. Now theyre talking about bussing families to particular cities to target political opponents. You know, these folks want us to choose cruelty as a weapon against these people and against political opponents and last week i released an immigration plan. Im calling on americans to choose compassion, not cruelty. Were going to talk more about your immigration plan as we move along here. Get to our audience, the first question from veronica from new jersey, a freshman at American University studying International Studies and journalism. As the former mayor of san antonio, texas you have been very outspoken against trumps rhetoric regarding the caravan and the overall issue of immigration in this country. As a mexicanamerican what do you say to members of the Hispanic Community across the country who are divided on whether or not to support the deportation of undocumented immigrants . Thank you very much for the question. I grew up with a grandmother who came from mexico when she was 7 years old with her little sister because her parents died. They came across the border at eagle pass, texas, ended up on the west side of san antonio, she worked her whole life as a maid, a cook, and a baby sitter, because she never finished elementary school. Two generations later, one of her grandsons, my twin brother joaquin is here is a member of the United States congress and the other grandson is running for president of the United States. This country has been blessed by immigrants throughout the years. And, you know, this president wants us to believe that we have to choose between Border Security and compassion. I believe that our border is more secure than its ever been. We have 654 miles of fencing. We have thousands of personnel. We have boats. We have planes. We have helicopters. We have security cameras that are monitoring what happens. We dont have to choose between a secure border. We have a secure border and we can maintain that security. We can be compassionate as well. So what i would say is that lets live up to the best of ourselves by recognizing that these are human beings who deserve respect and that we can have a secure border, but also treat fundamentally treat people fundamentally as human beings. And, you know, to me its amazing, don, because i also am from san antonio, a city that throughout the generations has been made stronger because of its immigrant community. Can we talk about that for a little bit . You mentioned your immigration policy. You just unveiled a major immigration plan calling for illegal border crossings to be decriminalized. Last month 92,000 undocumented migrants were arrested at the southern border, the highest number in more than a decade. Wont decriminalizing border crossings only result in more people trying to cross the border . Not at all. In fact, as i mentioned a few minutes ago what we were told last year was that if we would separate children from their families that that would deter more families from coming. What we need to do is, you know, number one we need to stop playing games with people who are seeking asylum. We need to make sure that people who are presenting themselves for asylum can make that claim. Secondly, i dont think that we should treat them as criminals. Up until about 2004 we actually treated somebody crossing the border as a civil violation, not a criminal one. In fact, it is the fact that weve treated it as a criminal violation that has led to this incarceration, this family detention, the backlog that exists today. I believe that we should treat it as a civil violation, people still are part of an immigration process, they still have to come to their court hearings, we still will monitor them, we still have the option to deport them, the fact is that most people who are seeking asylum you know may not get it but some will and we should hear their claims. The other thing is, we need to be smarter about this. In the long term we need a 21st century marshal plan for central and latin america. The problem is that folks cant find safety and opportunity in honduras or el salvador or guatemala. If we can partner with those countries so that people can find safety and opportunity there, instead of having to come and knock on the door of the United States, you know, thats what they want. That is going to be better for those countries in the long run that also addresses the issue that youre talking about, which is 92,000 people coming to the southern border in one month. Give them an opportunity there to encourage them to stay. I want to bring in a High School English teacher in virginia, also a daca recipient. Mr. Castro, the people first immigration policy you lay out is a worthwhile plan to help families like mine. Having gone through heartbreak of past policies across the aisle what do you say to daca holders and dreamers like myself, families like mine, and students i teach to reassure them you can make this possible given the nomination and you become the first latino president. Congratulations on all of your success. You and so many other dreamers represent the best of this nation, people that are studying hard, that are working hard, theyre in the military, i would say that i have a completely different vision from this president when it comes to not only dreamers but undocumented immigrants in this country. Number one, i dont believe the narrative that people who are coming to our southern border, these families, women and children, that they represent a threat to our country. And i believe that we should choose compassion even as we maintain a secure border. When it comes to our dreamers and it comes to other undocumented immigrants i believe in a pathway to citizenship. And under my people first immigration plan we would put folks on a pathway to citizenship. That includes not only dreamers but people with temporary protected status whom this president has put a target on their back. I believe that on january 20th, 2021 at 12 01 p. M. Were going to have a democratic president , a Democratic House and a democratic senate. And the lesson, when it comes to Immigration Reform, the lesson from 2009, 2010, when it comes to Immigration Reform, is we cant wait. And so this time we wont wait. We will push forward on Immigration Reform. A few years ago legislation got 68 votes in the senate. It would have passed in the house if it had been allowed to be voted on. But the republican speaker didnt allow a vote on it. We will push it forward this time and i believe that we can get it done. Standing in front of you chrissy holt, working in Business Development in annapolis, maryland, an advocate for the National Hemophiliac foundation. Secretary castro, thank you for this opportunity. My son has severe hem fillia a and his medical bills run between 35,000 to 45,000 a month and they have for two decades. Hes almost 26 years old and his washington, d. C. Employer offers a bronze Insurance Plan which does not cover his medication. What should he do . Change jobs, move, die, because the Insurance Companies wont cover his medication, how and what will you do to help the chronically ill thrive in america with medicare for all . Yeah. Chrissy, thank you for that question. And, you know, i know what its like to grow up with a relative that im very close to who has a chronic condition. The grandmother that i mentioned that i grew up with had diabetes. She had type 2 diabetes. So when my brother and i were growing up i remember that in the afternoon she used to go into the other room and she would inject herself with insulin and then her condition kept getting worse and worse. And i remember the anxiety growing up as a young man about my grandmothers condition and worrying about whether she would be able to get the health care that she needed. Thankfully she had medicare so she was able to get the care that she needed. I want to make sure that we strengthen medicare for the people who are on it and that we provide medicare to everybody who wants it in this country so that everybody can have the opportunity to get medicare. So youre on board, medicare for all. Even though it would eliminate private health insurance. Let me be very clear, i also believe if somebody wants to have their own private health Insurance Plan they ought to have that. What i dont believe is that anybody should go without health care or that the profit motive should ever keep somebody from getting the care, not the insurance, but the actual care, medical care and the medication that they need. Okay. Christopher young is here and hes a marine corps veteran who works as a consultant on government contracts here in washington, a member of the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. Thank you for your service, we appreciate that. Christopher, whats your question . The standing qualifications to be the president of the United States are set out in constitution, article 2, section 1, clause 5, and state three specific requirements. One must be at least 35 years old. A resident within the United States for 14 years. And a natural born citizen. Do you think releasing your tax returns to the American Public should be added in order to qualify for the president and why . Youre asking, christopher, do i think that should be added under the constitution . Yes. Or by law, by statute . Well, i dont necessarily think we need to do a constitutional amendment for it but i support making it a requirement by statute, Congress Passing a law that requires people who are running for president to submit ten years of their tax returns. It is astonishing that this president still has not released his taxes, even though he said at one point that he would and then he said he was under another. Now its gone so far that congress is looking for those tax returns and i hope they get them because its clear that he has something to hide. I dont. And so during the next few weeks i look forward to releasing ten years of my tax returns, and im sure im sure that i have no doubt, i know some of the other candidates in the democratic primary have released theirs, im sure that just about everybody probably on this side of the aisle is going to release theirs. And i dont see why you wouldnt. If you have nothing to hide then there should be no problem releasing those tax returns. All right, secretary, thank you very much. That was the first round. Were going to be right back with more of cnns democratic president ial town hall with secretary Julian Castro. Make sure you stay right there. To inspire confidence through style. Im working to make connections of a different kind. Im working for beauty that begins with nature. To treat every car like i treat mine. 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And theres oralb power brushing. Oralb just cleans better. Even my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. And unlike sonicare, oralb is the First Electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada. Oralb. Brush like a pro. Welcome back, everyone, weve been talking for the last 15 minutes but i think that people should know that theres someone in the audience who looks an awful lot like you. Hes sitting on the front row. He is your identical twin brother. Joaquin castro. A few weeks ago it would have been easier to tell you apart because he had a beard. So hes in congress. And when he realized that he didnt look like me anymore and his Approval Ratings were plummeting he went back to the no beard look. He says he needs a microphone so he can respond. Theres a joke you guys always tell about looks and you say youre well, he introduces himself to everybody by telling people that the way to tell us apart is i am a minute uglier than he is, im actually a minute older than he is. No ones ever heard that joke before. That was sarcasm. I want to get back to the audience now. Bring in breanna simmons, a junior at Mary Mount University studying psychology. Serving in president obamas cabinet what is one thing you would like to continue from his administration and what is one thing you learned under his administration that you would like to change . I think the thing i most learned, or most saw in his administration, and one of the reasons that i was excited to be a part of it was integrity. We need to restore integrity to the white house. President obama was somebody that so many people look up to as a role model. And he and First Lady Michelle Obama and their children led with such grace and class and we miss that these days. In terms of something that i learned that i think, you know, we can take next time when we have a Democratic Administration it would be probably to be bold about implementing the kind of changes that we need. Folks have seen for instance how much judicial appointments this administration has made compared to the number that the Obama Administration made. Its a lot. In some ways this administration has been bold, like with judicial no, maa judicial nominations. You know what, were going to take that, make sure we combat Climate Change by being bold, invest in things like universal prek, invest in health care for everybody, were going to be bold and thats something im going to continue. Sammy sala is a junior studying politics at Catholic University here in washington. Sammy . As you are probably aware there are criticisms of how hud has handled selling delinquent mortgages to wall street banks while you were secretary, how can progressives be sure you will fight for all americans and make sure you are not beholden to wall street . Thanks a lot for the question. You know, it was the honor of my lifetime to serve at hud. And i got there in 2014. One of the things that we worked very hard to do was make sure that people could stay in their home and that more folks who were responsible could become homeowners and so some folks had a critique about one of the programs we had called dasp. And what i did was that we listened to the critics and we started making changes soon after i got to hud. So that more people could stay in their homes, that when a property did have to be sold that more of them would be sold to nonprofits and to Community Organizations that cared about community. And thats what i also think that we need to do Going Forward. We need to ensure, number one, that we never make the mistakes of 15 years ago, ten years ago again, but if we ever find ourselves in that kind of situation that we always put people first, that we always orient our policies to ensure that people can stay in their homes, that folks with find a good, safe, decent place to live. And during this campaign one of the things that ive called for is for us to invest in affordable housing. I bet you that if we went through the debate transcripts of the last 40 or 50 years, democrat and republican debates, that we wouldnt see one question that was about housing, even though today, in big cities and small towns, there is an affordability crisis. People are paying 50 , 60 , 70 of their income in rent. So what i learned, what i learned from my time at hud was that we did a lot of great work, we reduced veteran homelessness in the Obama Administration by almost half from 2010 to 2016. We did make sure that people could stay in their home. We made fundamental improvements to investing in communities. At the same time i think we still need to do a lot more. And i look forward to doing that if im president. I want to bring in langston carter, a student at American University and he is an advocate for students and teachers. Hes a supporter of yours. Lankston. Good evening, you previously stated you support race based suffered because of segregation and housing inequalities. What would be the best way to implement reparations. Thank you for your support. And also thanks for the question. So this issue came up. People have asked me about reparations. And, you know, the way that i think about this is that i believe that we have never fully addressed in this country the original sin of slavery. And that because of that we have never truly healed as a country. And ive said that, you know, if we compensate people under our constitution, if we take their property, why wouldnt you compensate people who actually were considered property and sanctioned as property by the state . And sometimes people say, you know, theyll ask me, well, nobody today was a slave owner and nobody today thats living was a slave. And i say, you know, if somebody is out there thats 25 years old and they say, why are you talking to me . You know, i never owned slaves. Id say that, you know, that 25yearold person never fought in the pacific, that 25yearold person never had a hand in writing the constitution of our great country, that 25yearold person never marched with the women who were marching for the power to vote. They didnt march at the edmond pet tis bridge. But when that 25yearold person goes around the world in many places theyre treated with Great Respect because theyre an american. In other words, even though we werent there in past generations, we have inherited a lot of moral assets. But you know what, weve also inherited some moral debts. And one of those debts that weve never paid is the debt for that original sin of slavery. So i support legislation that Sheila Jackson lee from texas has introduced that would appoint a commission to study reparations and that commission would make a recommendation to the president on how those reparations should be done. This is important because sometimes say well, you know, what is the one best way to do it . And the process here is just as important as the result. I think of this in the way that i think of the truth and Reconciliation Commission of south africa. Theres a healing process that needs to happen. So its important that we get it right with a group of people from throughout the country that are well respected in their communities to make that kind of recommendation, not that its the idea of just one person. Let me jump in here. What would it look like . Economists who study reparation say to adequately address slavery would cost 20 million. Would americans be okay with that price tag . Americans would be okay with acknowledgment, first of all an apology for what happened. And some sort of directed acknowledgment for the pain that was caused. You know, the amount, what that would look like, i think that would be the role of the commission to make a recommendation on. I dont think that that can come from one individual because it needs to be about healing as a country, not only one prescription for what we should do. Well be back with more from cnns democratic president ial town hall with secretary Julian Castro. Dont go anywhere. Pardon the interruption but this is big now at tmobile buy any Samsung Galaxy s10 and get a galaxy s10e free youre having one more bite no one more bite kraft. For the win win. The house, kids, theyre living the dream and here comes the wacky new maid maid . 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Do you have a separate method for addressing handgun violencesome. Thank you very much for the question, pauline. Youre right, i have been a strong supporter of common sense gun reform. I believe that and this applies to handguns as well that we need to make background checks universal. Theres no reason that somebody who has committed Domestic Violence should ever get their hands on a gun. Right . We also need to limit the capacity of magazines. And we need to make sure that we do everything that we can so that people who get their hands on guns do so in a safe way. So, you know, i support making sure that we make those background checks universal. I support things like gun buybacks. I know that they have had mixed success. But i believe that in some circumstances thats a good policy and that we can recover some weapons that shouldnt be out there on the street. I also support, though, in a larger way, looking at this issue of gun violence more broadly. For instance, many of the people who end up either injured or killed through use of a handgun commit suicide. But we actually dont talk about that very much. And so these policies that we want to implement, right, they have to be well rounded. We need to invest in Mental Health as part of health care. We cant separate any longer Mental Health from health care. Part of that is eliminating the stigma of people who have Mental Health issues. So if somebody has suicidal feelings that they can feel more comfortable going and seeing somebody, a counselor or psychologist or psychiatrist for that. So i would think about this in a kaleidoscopic way, its not only about the issue of guns themselves, its also about things like Mental Health that touch on things that lead people to use guns in a bad way. Lets bring up donna, an employee at the american the naval air warfare center, whats your question, donna . Thank you for having me. The person who sold the fentanyl that killed my son has been in and out of jail for over 20 years. His arrests were primarily possession with intent to distribute. After over a dozen arrests this person has continued to sell the poison thats killing our children. How would you change the current laws to be sure these repeat offenders are held accountable . Thank you very much for that question and im very sorry to hear that. Can i Say Something before you answer the question. Pardon me. Three years ago, this is her son were putting up on the screen, she lost her 24yearold son bryant from a fentanyl overdose. I think thats an important part of this so that you can answer the question properly for her. Thank you, donna. Very sorry to hear about brians death, and thank you for advocating in his name. I would make sure as president there are harsh penalties against people who traffic in fentanyl and similar drugs. We need to make Smart Investments in our ports of entry so that we can crack down further on the trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs. You may have seen, for instance, that about five or six weeks ago we had the largest bust of fentanyl in our nations history, it was 256 pounds and it came through a port of entry in arizona. The president has talked a lot about what we should do at the border. One thing that i believe we should do is to better invest in security at our ports of entry so that we can do things like catch more of the fentanyl thats coming through. And by doing that, and also by punishing people who traffic in it, we can ensure that less people are affected the way that your son bryant was. Can we talk a little bit more . Again, its awful, she doesnt have her son now. Shes lost her son. What about the seller that keeps getting let out of prison . I think that i agree with those who say that we need harsher sentences for people who sell those drugs. We have when it comes to the users of drugs, for instance, people who have used marijuana in comparison, we have locked people up for generations. There are tons and tons of people who have sat in jail for relatively lowlevel offenses. We ought to be going after people who are selling these drugs. And so, you know, i believe that we can do a better job and im committed to doing that if im president. Donna, let me just say that its very brave of donna to come here and stand in front of you and talk about this. I know its an important issue to you but i know that a parent losing a child is one of the worst things that can happen. My mother lost her child, my sister, a year ago. And it is the most awful feeling. So i commend you for coming here and your strength. So thank you so much, and we hope that thank you, donna. I want to turn now to francesca smith, a Kindergarten Teacher at a Charter School in washington, d. C. Fr as a former prek teacher i know that Early Childhood education is more than just day care. Whats your plan for expanding prek throughout the country but ensuring its high quality, especially in the highest need communities . Thanks for the question. This is actually one of my favorite questions because, you know, i the thing im most proud of was that when i was mayor of san antonio we took to the voters a Ballot Initiative to raise the sales tax by an eighth of a cent to expand high quality prek for our 4yearolds. What i could see was that that community a lot like our nation needed to improve its Educational Attainment because jobs require more knowledge and more skill than ever before. Because science is very clear that if you have a dollar to invest in education, the best time to invest it is when a child is young. So we need universal prek for 3 and 4yearolds in our country. Thats what i would do if im president of the United States. And, you know this issue is very important to you. It is, it is, you know, and let me also say that you cant stop there. Right, we have to improve k12 education by investing in our public schools, paying teachers what they deserve, making sure that the needs of a child can be met at the school that they attend and we need to make Higher Education universal so that people can go to a public university, Community College and apprenticeship program, some sort of job training program, at least tuition free so that everybody gets the knowledge and the skills they need to compete. Kyle is ready to ask you a question. Hes a consultant who works on Energy Issues and he is politically active on kpliemt change. Hes also a member of the Arlington Young democrats. Kyle . Good evening. Secretary castro, if President Trump were here right now tonight with us and you could provide him one idea or piece of advice he would follow through on until the end of his term, what would it be and why . Follow the law. What do you mean by that . Elaborate on that. You know, for any other president that might sound like a joke, right, but look what this president has tried to do. Declaring a National Emergency so that he can get his wall funding. I believe its against the law. The way that he has moved forward on a number of different policies. What theyre talking about today, just the news that people are seeing tonight, the breaking news about trying to get undocumented immigrants shipped into communities where political opponents represent. You know, i would tell this president that he is not above the law, that he needs to follow the law and understand that our constitution created coequal branches so that he should respect congress and respect the courts and i think thats going to make for a better nation if he did that. Back with more from cnns democratic president ial town hall with secretary Julian Castro. Well be right back. 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Daniel. Good evening, secretary castro. Given the plethora of threats, both military and otherwise, coming from countries such as russia, china and north korea, what are your Foreign Policy priorities and what will be your general approach towards diplomacy with countries hostile to american interests and values. Great question, daniel and thats on the minds of a lot of americans in different ways. Number one, i would repair the damage that this president has done to alliances around the world that have helped keep us safer. One of the great that i think so that we did post world war ii was to forge alliances with and stand up institutions like nato that helped keep us safer and helped keep the world safer. At the same time this president seems to have gone out of his way to tear apart those alliances, to disrespect world leaders, to call into question institutions that have served us well. My first order of business would be to make sure that we repair those alliances. As i see it the country has a role to lead for the values that we believe in, for freedom, democracy and opportunity. That doesnt mean that we entangle ourselves in wars. We saw what can happen when we make a mistake, like the iraq war. However, i do think that we need to reclaim our role as the world leader in standing up for things like human rights around the world. I also believe i also believe that were going to compete. We live in a 21st Century Global economy. We need to make sure that we always protect our American Workers and companies, the they benefit by whatever we do in terms of trade. But we are going to compete in a 21st Century Global economy and we need to do that effectively. And were going to crack down on people who cheat. Whether its within a trade agreement or outside of that. The United States has a role. We also look, before we ever enter into any kind of trade agreement we want to make sure that we have tougher environmental standards, labor standards and enforcement standards. So and then i would actually strike out on some new ground that i mentioned a little bit earlier that hasnt been part of, i think, as robust a part of our Foreign Policy. I propose a 21st century marshal plan for central and latin america. We need our neighbors. We have countries like china that are going around the world right now forging alliances in africa, in latin america. China is getting stronger militarily and economically. So today we need friends more than ever before. And i would make sure that we forge stronger partnerships, especially in latin america with our neighbors, to their benefit and our benefit. Im going to bring in robert lyons, all the way from iowa, but hes pursuing a masters degree at can i have your vote, robert . Well see. Good evening, secretary castro, the 2016 election show it had country and the world that the United States was unprepared to deal with foreign interference in our elections. Since that time the Trump Administration has taken little to no action to ensure this wont happen again. What preventative programs and processes should we be implementing at the National Level to restrict foreign interference, stem the tide of misinformation and ensure the integrity of our elections . Thank you very much for that question. Number one, we need to see the mueller report. We need to know the extent of russia meddling in our elections. Its important that the American People see the mueller report, get the full truth. Thats the past. Maybe most importantly Going Forward we need a standard for cybersecurity for our elections. It is absolutely amazing that in county after county across the United States they have different voting machines, different standards for how they handle information. Theres no one uniform standard to ensure that theres absolute security and integrity of the franchise. I would make sure that we do that. And just as importantly i would Fund Communities to be able to upgrade their equipment. I think that we need to create a paper trail, a paper ballot so that we can see have a check on how people voted. And this is not hard stuff. But we need to get onto it because 2016 was not the end of it. Weve been told very clearly that theyre going to try this again. In 2020 and beyond. So we need that National Standard and we need to invest county by county where elections happen in greater security. Theres a lot of folks who have a lot of questions here. I want to move on and get to aaron stone, a special Education Teacher here in washington. Aaron . Thats right, shoutout to my dci dragons who are watching. So at the thats right. So at the end of the day some of us like to decompress, whether its listening to music, binging on netflix or smoking marijuana. What is your position on legalizing not only medical marijuana but Recreational Use for adults . Not to go unnoticed his last name is stone. Its all right, man, look, your last name is stone, i wont assume youre a stoner. My last name is castro, dont assume im a dictator. I actually support the legalization of marijuana. And let me tell you why. Number one we have enough experience in states like colorado and other communities across our country that have shown how you can do this, how you can do it in a sensible way with good regulation. Its going to be regulated, right, people are not going to be able to do whatever they want but a well regulated, legalized system of marijuana, i think, makes sense. On top of that we need to go back and expunge the records of people who were imprisoned because of using marijuana. And this is important. This part is important, in part, because there are a lot of people, and folks in this audience probably know some of them who have served jail time, right, and disproportionately its impacted communities of color and poor neighborhoods of people who have been imprisoned because of marijuana use. Its not enough just to say we want to legalize it. We actually want to go back and expunge these records. And we need to make sure that we take and we want to take the best practices of other places that have legalized so that in the future states that do it afterward can get the best of that knowledge and not hit as many bumps in the road as some places have hit before. Okay. Robin holiday is from maryland. You can give him a round of applause if you want. Robin holiday is from maryland. She worked in National Security for 26 years before leaving to open an art gallery. Robin . Hello, sir. My art gallery has been destroyed now twice by devastating floods in ellicott city, maryland. The first one was in 2016, and we were told it was a thousandyear flood. So we all rebuilt. And in 20 months, a more devastating flood came through. Our businesses were destroyed, homes and peoples lives were lost. Our Current Administration will not admit that Climate Change is real. They ignore the science, and people are getting hurt. So my question for you, sir, is what bold, tangible real action would you take to address Climate Change . [ applause ] i would start on day one. I would recommit the United States to the paris climate accord, and first of all, im very sorry about what has happened to your business. You know, it says a lot about you that you rebuilt your business, and then it happened again. That shouldnt happen. And we see these natural disasters happening with more frequency. The floods, the hurricanes, and theyre getting stronger too. There was a report that was released. Im sure a lot of people here saw, probably about two months or so ago that said we have about a dozen years to get this right, to combat Climate Change or else the consequences could be tragic. So what are we going to do . I like the concept of a Green New Deal. We need to invest in renewable energy. We need to drastically cut down carbon emissions. We need to convince other countries around the world to do the same thing. We cant do that right now because this president has chosen to bury his head in the sand along with his administration and to deny there is a problem, but we know the truth. Im proud that when i was secretary of housing and urban development, we worked with housing authorities across the United States to improve their embrace of renewable energy, solar energy, other types of renewable energy. We did something called the National Disaster resilience competition. And it was a 1 billion project. And the idea was that for communities that were recovering from a natural disaster, lets not just rebuild in the same way, but lets do it in a Sustainable Way so that if the next storm comes, youre actually more likely to withstand it. Thats important, because its not enough for us to be reactive. We have to be proactive. And this young generation have been absolutely fantastic when it comes to Climate Change. Its been great to hear their voice, and i hope their voice is heard at the ballot box in november of 2020. And we will come back. Were going to take another short break and be back with more with our town hall with secretary Julian Castro. You have a clear planfidee to cover the essentials in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. And on the way, youll get timely investment help to keep you on the right track, without the unnecessary fees you might expect from so many financial firms. Because when you have a partner who gives you clarity at every step, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Who gives you clarity at every step, i can do more to lower my a1c. Because my body can still make its own insulin. And i take trulicity once a week to activate my body to release it, like its supposed to. Trulicity is not insulin. It starts acting in my body from the first dose and continues to work when i need it, 24 7. Trulicity is an injection to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. Dont use it as the first medicine to treat diabetes, or if you have type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Dont take trulicity if you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, youre allergic to trulicity, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. Serious side effects may include pancreatitis. Taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your low blood sugar risk. Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite. These can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. I choose onceweekly trulicity to activate my within. If you need help lowering your a1c, ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. Welcome back to cnns president ial town hall with secretary Julian Castro. Secretary, i want to bring in elsa calderon. She is a student at Loyola University chicago, currently interning for a nonprofit here in washington that advocates for hispanic americans. Elsa . Thank you. As the only latino president ial candidate, how you using your voice and your ties to mobilize the Latino Community to vote . Thanks a lot for the question. You know, im very proud of my background, and i think voters are going to make the decision on a lot of things, your experience, your message, how everybody gets out there and delivers their vision for the future of their country, your track record. But to me it is meaningful to be able to run right now when the Latino Community feels like this president has put a target on their back, and my hope is that not only am i going to be offering a different vision for the future of this country, one that is inclusive, one that is based in integrity, one that is set in the future about what we can become as a country and not stuck in the past, but also that there might be some little latino boys or girls that say hey, if hes doing that, i can do that too. I hope that thats i want to step in here, because you mentioned your grandmother. I know this is something thats very important to you and your brother. Your grandmother came here you shared this story before. Your grandmother came here when she was 7 years old. You talk about you and your brother sharing a bedroom with her. You said it was as cramped as a car trunk. It was, yeah. What do you think it would mean to her to see her grandson running as president of the United States . I can imagine the tears in her eyes, you know, because she literally would scrub floors and make food and babysit for people. And for her to believe, for her to see one of her grandsons become the president , she couldnt even imagine it, but thats also the beauty of our country. I think that it would affirm the love that she had for this country that had taken her, in and it would say to her its true that anything is possible in america, and we need to get back to an america where everything is possible for everybody. [ applause ] i bet shed be very proud to see you and your brother, what youve done so far. Thank you so much. I want to thank the secretary. [ applause ] and make sure you tune in on sunday, 7 00 p. M. Eastern for two more cnn democratic president ial town halls. The first one will be with author marianne williamson, moderated by uour very own dana bash followed by businessman andrew yang moderated by anna cabrera. Cuomo primetime starts right now. All right. Another president ial town hall in the woox, Julian Castro you. Saw his brother, the congressman there. Theyre twins, of course. And now its time for primetime 2. 0. Were just Getting Started tonight. What do you say, my friends . Lets get after it. He needed a big moment to break out of a 2020 field. The question is did Julian Castro do it tonight . Ninth place in a just out new Monmouth University poll of likely iowa caucus goers. I know thats limited. Were 572 days out. But you need to break out at some point. Better to do it sooner, right . Someone definitely on the rise in this new number is pete buttigieg, now in third place in iowa behind only biden and sanders. Look, hes had a lot of shine from the media lately. People will tell you that its earned. He is appealing to people all across the scope of his party, and now hes separated himself. He is in the conversation. What does he do with it . How does he sustain . Lets talk about it. Former 2016 gop candidate governor john kasich. Governor, thank you for joining. As always. Thank you. All right. So lets put up these poll numbers again that i was just talking about and show people the current standings. The big surprise in this poll has to be mayor pete. He is now really entered the main fray. I know you can look at the numbers and say well 9 so, what . But he has separated himself from a huge bunch of people that we need to learn about in order for them to be relevant. Whats your take . Well, chris, ive been hearing this for week, and i hear it from democrats and i hear it from republicans. And they seem to really like him, that hes the way he comes across, he comes across as a really smart guy, an experienced guy. Hes very honest. Hes direct. You know, the guy speaks seven languages. He is a veteran. All these things have really worked in his favor. But of course its very early. What i would say, chris, is what my observation is. The person whose lost because of the shine on mayor pete i think has been beto. Yep. I think theyre kind of vying for the same folks. And beto is still hanging in there. Dont take anything away from him. But this has been a good time for the mayor. If youre on team trump, and youre looking at this roster, who are you worried about . Biden. Anybody else . Im really worried well, its too early, but you know joe, he casts that long shadow. And it looks like he took a pounding here over the last couple of weeks, but the polls dont indicate that its taken a toll on him. You might say why. Well, for those that know joe biden, joahugs everybody. Its just the way he is. He is just a very slap you on the back, kind of give you a hug kind of guy. And i think that these charges that some argue came from bernies campaign, i cant prove it, i dont know, but thats the rumor, people just, they just didnt think that was the joe biden that they knew. They just thought they just didnt accept it. So i think hes weathered that. Now, we know, chris, of course he is older. But age is changing. The way we look at people today is much different than it was ten years ago. So i think that biden is very formidable. And the other thing is, chris you know this country. You know where the people are. The people are basically center right and center left. Theyre not on the extremes. Right. And biden is able to get himself in to that slot. Right. And well see. Klobuchar is still doing well. Obviously harris, senator harris is doing well. 572 days. Its just interesting to see who is separating, who isnt and why, because your feeling of what metrics and what issues are going to matter. So i have two of those. Two issues that seem to be resonating, at least at this point. Medicare for all, and what the Green New Deal means, at least on the democrats side. Here is medicare for all. Lets look at these numbers. Very important. 49 . As you know as far as issues go, thats pretty good once you get away from a direct pocketbook issue. Somewhat important, 33. Not parent, not sure is less than 20 . So you know the issue is relevant. What does that mean to you in terms of how to negotiate what this issue is . Health care is a giant issue, chris. It was the reason why the midterms swung to the democrats. People are very worried about it. Im not sure there is support of medicare for all translates into health care. I think its health care and then people have their ideas. I was on capitol hill i guess about a week, ten days ago, and the democrats that i talked to, i talked to a lot of them, they come over, they shake my hand. We always have a nice chat, they are realizing that they have to moderate. And youre beginning to see these candidates sort of distance themselves from the new green deal or distance themselves from medicare for all because medicare for all means you might lose your private health insurance, it may shut it down. You may lose your doctor. I dont think people are in a mood or in a mode, and you tell me what you think. But my sense is they want to make sure they have their health care. They dont want it to be ripped apart. They want to be able to get insured if they have preexisting conditions or any of their loved ones or friends. But the idea that were going to do major changes to it right now i think makes people very concerned and very nervous. So patching up obamacare, reforming it, and reforming the whole Health Care System makes some sense. But when you get into lets just do away with this, lets get rid of private insurance and all that, i think it frightens people. Youre beginning to see the candidates move away in terms of medicare for all. In terms of the new green deal. Lets look at the numbers, gov. Yeah, go ahead. Here is the new green deal. Not the same resonance that health care gets. But 72 very or somewhat important among democrats, obviously. Not important, not sure. Again, a little higher than it was, about 20 with health care, this is about 30 . People are concerned about the environment. Look, everybody ought to be concerned about the environment, but the democrats got on that issue first. And so i think what youre going to see is youre going see more and more republicans beginning to talk positively about things that can be done to affect the environment and to be aware of the problem of Climate Change. I think you will see republicans youre not going to see many climate deniers. I think thats going change for republicans. For democrats, how far do you want to go . New green deal is way beyond just what were going do about cap and trade or a carbon tax. It kind of restructures the entire federal government and centralizes power in washington. Thats the problem with medicare for all. Its a centralization of power in the government at a time when really, you know, the answers to this is more transparency, more competition, more openness. So we know what we pay for. Chris, think about this for a second. Health care is about the only thing where we go and get treated by somebody we dont know how well they do, we think theyre good, but we dont really know. We dont know what things cost because were afraid to ask. If you go starbucks, you know what the small coffee, the medium, the large, you know what all these fancy drinks are, and you know how they taste. With health care, were sort of flying blind. So the answer to that longer term is transparency so that we as consumers can make Intelligent Decisions in a more competitive environment. Right. Thats where medicare for all falls short, and the new green deal, yes, were for the environment. We need to do things, we need to do it quickly, but lets not be extreme. I think the big sell on health care is going to be who has the best plan to control costs, because people are learning more now that what seems so wild, theyre matching their mortgage with their health care costs. But governor, thank you so much for outlines. Prescription drugs. Prescription drugs. And well see whose got a deal on it versus throwing out a label. The governor was very good at this when he was in office. You got it. Thank you so much. Ill be lean young heavy in the 572 days to come. Governor kasich, be well. All right, chris, thank you. All right. New tonight, were learning about a white house plan. Listen to this, to target the release of detained immigrants by sending them into certain cities. Which cities . Why . Thats the real story. Ive got some of the sharpest minds in the business to help dissect this craziness, next. Pardon the interruption but this is big now at tmobile buy any Samsung Galaxy s10 and get a galaxy s10e free [kno king] memories. What we deliver by delivering. When i had my brother take me places, it was always like, we had to get there early so i could smoke a cigarette before we go inside. We always had to stop for cigarettes. Its true. I decided i needed to find an alternative. So i started looking and then juul came up. I did both for a while. And eventually i just switched over, its very quick. I remember recently you asking me like did you want to smoke before we go in . And i was like no, i dont need to. Youre having one more bite no one more bite kraft. For the win win. With a lot of other young couples. Then we noticed something. Strange. Oh, could you, uh, make me a burger . Poof youre a burger. [ laughter ] everyone acts like their parents. You have a tattoo. Yes. Fun. Do you not work . So, what kind of mower you got, seth . I dont know. Some kid comes over. We pay him to do it. But its not all bad. Someone even showed us how we can save money by bundling home and auto with progressive. Progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents. But we can protect your home and auto. File this under you cannot make it up. The Trump White House had a plan for detained immigrants. Here is the white houses plan. Use them for revenge. A source tells cnn the president pressured the Homeland Security, Homeland Security secretary to release immigrants into sanctuary cities. Why . To retaliate against democrats who oppose his border wall. Secretary nielsen supposedly resisted. Weve got some topnotch political minds here tonight. Frank bruni, errol louis, and laura barone lopez. Laura, welcome to prime time. Its good to have you all here. First, does anybody not believe this story . Silence okay. Go ahead, lopez, you go first. Yeah, ill go first. Its believable. Again, this fits with trumps efforts as well as stephen millers to try to push the envelope as much as they possibly can when it comes to immigration. Fru trump wants to make the entire 2020 campaign about this. And if he could go unchecked, would enact proposals such as this. But again, we saw that he met resistance, and even though they repeatedly pushed this out there, they werent able to get their way. But this again illustrates that trump wants to use immigration as a Political Tool against his opponents as opposed to trying to work with democrats to come up with some comprehensive Immigration Reform to actually address the issue at hand. Now, if you can get past, errol, the obvious dehumanizing aspect of this, that youre using them basically as chits, there is a little bit of an evil genius at work here. You take the people that you cant hold, right, which is part of the problem. Really, they just should be expanding their potential to accommodate, and then you dump them in the cities where you want to show that there is a problem with too many people, and then you can go back and round them up and blame the city and hope that the overflow in the city hurts your opponents. Yeah, its twisted. Its a good thing they didnt try to implement this, chris, honestly. Even if they had even a glimmer of good faith about it, if they were to propose this either on the board otherer in towns that they dont like for obvious malicious political reasons, if it came with some money, there are any number of jurisdictions that would probably take them up on it. If you actually want to solve the problem, you get an entirely different approach to all