Wave of political activism. The party has been called into question in the wake of Donald Trumps win. His book outlines his vision for this countrys future. I am pleased to have him back at this table. Welcome. When did you write this . Did you keep a diary . Bernie i wrote it over a threemonth frantic period. Working 12 hours, 13 hours every day. I started it after the democratic convention. I just worked hard for three months. It is a couple of things. The first half of the book talks about the issues that you raised. Talks about taking on the entire political establishment, the clinton organization, the media that did not take us seriously. Also wall street and corporate america. It talks about being on the campaign joe, the kind of support and coalitions that we put together. Among young people and working people, we struck a real nerve. In virtually every primary and caucus that we engaged in, we won the overwhelming report. People under 40 years of age. Which tells me that the ideas we brought forth are the ideas for the future of america. Why. Book is about working people and young people how do we get them involved . The second book its the second part of the book is what we need to do a lot about, to answer some fundamental questions we dont talk about. For the last 40 years, the middle class in this country has been in decline. During that period we have seen a massive shift of income from the middle class to the top 1 10th of 1 . Why are we the only major country not to have paid family and medical leave . What are we going to do about the planetary crisis about Climate Change . The second half of the book says, these of the crises that we face. In my view, this is how we go forward. This is a blueprint that in america that works robust, not just a few. It is how we transform our Energy System and not allow us to be divided up. It is two parts. It is a campaign joe, and it is a prescription for going forward. Issues youose are talked about. You met with Hillary Clinton before the convention. Insaid she mostly believed what you did. Bernie what happened after the primary was over, set down together. I had proposed making public colleges and universities tuition free. She had a different approach. It was a strong approach. She came together with me and said, lets make the lectures public colleges and universities tuition free for 80 of the population. That is a pretty big deal. She also came in agreement with me of a Major Program to expand Community Health centers. I am a believer in the medicare for all singlepayer program, but we to get major expansion. But if through after issue, it was far far superior to mr. Trump. Charlie you wouldnt have done that if she was essentially close to where you were. Bernie we can argue. Certainly not on every issue on every issue she understands that bigmoney and Citizens United is our political system. She was in favor of overturning Citizens United. She certainly understands the seriousness of global warming. On many issues, her positions were strong. I was happy to campaign for her. Charlie once she with you in terms of wall street . Bernie you would have to ask her. Charlie that means she doesnt. Bernie we just never know. One of the interesting moments right now is donald trump, he said i am going to be a strong defender of the working class. How often do you hear the term used . You dont hear most democrats say we are going to defend the workingclass mi right on that . Am i right on that . Charlie you are saying that he recognized in the waning moments of the campaign that this was a call he had to make . Bernie he used language that Many Democrats dont. What we are going to do, and my job as a u. S. Senator and that many few months i had the many few months ahead youre talking about how people are working for longer wages, this is our plan. We want to raise the minimum wage. Mr. Trump, are you with us . We want to rebuild our infrastructure. Are you with us . It is easy for mr. Trump and his friends, not all, to beat up on muslims and mexicans. Someone who makes eight dollars an hour, or someone with no power, or a little girl wearing a cowl. Very easy to beat up. Can you take on corporate america. Were corporate where corporations dont they a nickel in texas . Dont pay a nickel in taxes . Charlie are you surprised that he won . Bernie i wasnt shocked that i charlie why did he win . Bernie i will tell you why. With the establishment doesnt understand is that there are tens of thousands of people who are not racists, they are hurting. Charlie, you make 40,000 a year, you are a single dad. How do you afford 15,000 a year for child care . You are 60 years of age. Charlie four you get housing, food bernie exactly. Just one simple thing childcare. You are 60 years of age, retiring in a few years. Charlie if you have a job. Bernie you were not going to have a job. If you are 50 of older american workers, do you know how much you have in the bank . What do you think . They are scared to death. If you are middleaged, you have a couple kids, and you have health insurance, but you have very high deductibles and copayments and you cant afford to instruction drunks. You are scared. Drugs. Rd prescription that is what millions of people are experiencing everything. You are a worker. You worked in a factory with pride. Charlie soon as, why did they vote for hillary why did they vote for . Donald trump . Bernie he spoke with passion. Going to fight for the workingclass. Claim against washington. Ii happen to think he is a good entertainer. Going to fight for the workingclass. Claim against i never believed him for a moment. That we cans fool, recognize. Really looking at america understands that some of the river things that he said during the campaign and things that he has done in his life, like leaving the birther leading the birther movement, was a horrible thing to do. Will you recognize that you can t disrupt the millions of lives of people . He did the you think birther thing for political reasons . Bernie i am not his psychoanalyst. I dont know. Clearly it was nothing less than a racist effort, which got him a lot of attention with certain types of people. Clearly itat best, it was simplk for him to games of recognition among extreme rightwing people. Charlie what surprises me is that you have not talked to Hillary Clinton since the debate. 5 minutes it takes to talk to her. For her to call you. Bernie we will is is that before the day is over. Charlie before this day is over. Bernie Hillary Clinton and i charlie you are not intimate, i understand. Bernie what is important is that in the last week of this campaign, i was in 12 states giving 21 rallies speaking to 21,000 people before the election. I think i played my role. I thought it was important that Hillary Clinton the elected. But you asked me a question, why did trump win . It has nothing to do with my relationship with Hillary Clinton. Trump won because millions of people are hurting, and very few folks are talking to their pain. Charlie there is a saying going around that for the establishment elite and you are a number of the elite. The most exclusive club. Bernie wait a minute. Of course i am a u. S. Senator. Is that my entire life working for working people. Charlie could you have a privilege as a human being being in washington and being recognized. Bernie i accept charlie working for working you, but at the same time be an elite, but at same time realize your position. Used hisis, when he own rhetoric to appeal to them. In terms of her own analysis of the election, she says they were on a roll, that they were marching to victory, and they were suddenly stopped by the comey announcement that he was reopening the investigation. Bernie i think the comey investigation was inappropriate. I think it hurt Hillary Clinton. It couldve made the difference. She may well be right. Charlie it could have made the margin of difference . Bernie yes. Lets not forget she got more votes than mr. Trump. In several states, she lost by less than half. There is a deeper question. Thinking about this or that tactic the deeper question is, how did we lose . Theought in i broaden didcratic party here, how we lose to someone who proposes to throw 20 million americans off of health insurance, who does not believe in the reality his recordchange on women is unspeakable. Attacking latinos and muslims. How did we lose a race like that . That speaks to where the Democratic Party is today. What is the Democratic Party . It concerns me very much. We had a lot of democrats do you know what they do most of their lives . They are out raising their money for wealthy people. As a result of Citizens United, money is important. You cant just spend your entire life raising money. What donald trump was doing was holding rallies. He was going into rural areas where candidates previously did not go. In many ways, i did that myself. Charlie like wisconsin. Bernie i am much or how you run a campaign for president and not go to wisconsin. He was out rallying people. That is what a serious candidate has got to do. Charlie that is what she can do because she was raising money. That is the point you are raising. Bernie she was not on the phone, she was at hundreds and hundreds of fundraiser. It is not just her. If i were to tell you, gee, here is a press release or a leading democrat is going to mississippi to speak to one of the poorest states in the country. Can you think of any time . I can tell you because i want to mississippi and they said gee, i never saw a non republican coming to mississippi to talk to working people. Imagine talking to people other than fundraisers. We need a democratic revolution. We need to make it a grassroots workingclass party. Charlie you wrote an oped that made this point. We need a revolution because the problems he proposals coming from you, from her, from other democrats are one thing. It seems to me you are saying you have to show people who are hurting that you hear them, that you are listening. That you recognize that they are up against insurmountable odds. Bernie that is right. Lets put it out on the table. Are we better off today than we were eight years ago when obama became president . The answer is, you have to be partisan to not admit that we were. Yes, we are better off. But there is another reality you just touched on. And if the media has no clue about it all. People are working two or three jobs. People are scared to death and they are working. College graduates that are waiting tables. They said, i went to school and i am 50,000 in debt. Is that all this country has to offer . Charlie everyone has understood in their head that we have a problem here. That was not a new idea. The difference was, and i am , they simplyying did not indicate that. They understood it there is understanding and understanding. I can write a speech saying, we are going to fight for everyday americans. Does that mean that i really charlie that is the way the votes are too. Bernie how does rhetoric. What does that mean . The American People are asking themselves how does it happen that every Major Financial Institution has paid billions of dollars of fines for illegal activity. No ceo has been prosecuted. People are saying that this is the correct system. Is a corrupt system. Charlie before you say that, you just said that we have eight years of the Democratic Administration and a democrat was pointed to be the leader of the justice department. Bernie yep. You can answer the question as well as i can. That is the point. People say were better off today under obama then we were at the end of bushs campaign. Thank you president obama for doing a lot of good things. But i still think there are a lot of things where this administration has not been as strong as it should be. You have mr. Trump coming along and saying, youre hurting your factories. Trump beingl mr. Able to dismantle president obamas legacy . Bernie im not worried about the legacy. I am worried about the reality, how it impacts millions of people. What donald trump has said and this is not an original idea. This is what republicans believe. The Republican Party is largely funded by the Koch Brothers. Do you know what the Koch Brothers belief . You should have them up here sometime. Charlie they believe in reforming criminal justice. Bernie i will tell you else what they want to believe. They want to limit Social Security and medicare. They want to eliminate Public Education in america. This is an extreme rightwing group that spends hundreds of millions of dollars to elect republicans. They now have an enormous influence over the Republican Party. Charlie they were not supportive of donald trump. Bernie oh, i think they will be just fine. You are right that they put money into senate and house races. I think they will be very happy with what mr. Trump does. Charlie here is an idea that is getting some prominence, that the elites took him literally, but not seriously. And the people who supported him, took him seriously, but not literally. Meaning, they gave him a pass to be disruptive, whether they believed in the end she would really change. Bernie this is what i know. Mr. Trump ran the most Unconventional Campaign in the history of america. We know that he is a very smart guy. He has done some ugly things in birther race in the movement, terrible things said about mexicanamericans. His record on women isbeyond belief. What he does as a president we will have to wait and see. On the other hands, he has raised some issues about the decline of the middle class, about wall street, about the pharmaceutical industry, so all i am not here to predict what mr. Trump will do. If hes going to go forward, and this appointment of mr. Bannon is a bad sign if he thinks hes going to throw millions of latinos out of this country, if you think he is going to be a racist or sexist. We in the Progressive Movement are going to fight him tooth and nail charlie can you stop him . Can you stop the deportation of several Million Immigrants who he says have a criminal record . Bernie i dont know whether what that means. Does that mean that they jaywalked . Were this were they speeding on an interstate . I believe this so passionately. Ill have to tell you. This country, for hundreds of years, their people that have been fighting against how we treated native americans, i retreated africanamericans, how we treated women, i retreated asianamericans the asian exclusion act the italians and jews did everyone else. We have been fighting over and over again to reach what Martin Luther king told us, that we should judge people based on the character, not the color of their skin or where they came from. There are millions of people who say, we are not going back. Mr. Trump, you and your friends and not going to divide this country up. I think he is a smart guy. He is a strange man, but a very smart man. I hope that he understands that if he tries to divide us up by race or country of origin, there will be a massive backlash. Thirdly what concerns me, she did not talk much the media did not talk much about this. Trump campaigned by saying that Climate Change is a hoax. I have been on compass minerals, let me tell you that Climate Change is no hoax. We have to move away from fossil fuel. That speaks not only to the future of this country, but the whole world. I worry that if the rest of the world russia, china, india, germany, see that the United States doesnt believe in the morality of, change they will say, why the hell are we changing . I hope that mr. Trump has the brains to listen to the scientific community. Charlie do you have any indication based on what he has said . Is seriouslyhe thinking that the awesome power of the white house has a sobering effect. Bernie let me say it again. I think donald trump in his own way is certainly an unusual type, but think he is a smart guy. In many ways, you have to say that he ran a brilliant campaign. Nobody thought that he could win. Charlie do you agree with those that say we all it to him we owe it to him to give him a chance . Bernie i will not give them a chance in terms of racist and sexist policies. Charlie the question is not whether he will allow it, but it is whether to wait and see what he is going to do. Bernie i dont think the majority lets be clear. We have racism and sexism in this country. I think they are a minority. There are a lot of people who ho just like ap w lot of what he said, but felt he could do something to improve their economic condition. Charlie no one had done anything before. And they are hurting. Bernie they are hurting. Charlie how split is the Democratic Party . You wrote about the notion that the Democratic Party has to change. Bernie i wrote about it in the book and i speak about it every day. It is split. Lets look at it another way. Today the Republican Party will soon control the white house, the senate, the house, two thirds of the statehouses in this country. In the last eight years the , Democratic Party has lost eight or 900 seats in state legislatures around the country. Charlie why . Bernie any objective analysis of whatever the democrats are doing aint working very well. That we can agree on. That is number one. I dont mean this in a condemning way. The Democratic Party has become a member of the liberal elite. People as i am are going to fight for womens rights. I believe all that. I have a 100 voting record on all of those issues. But when youre sitting at a Cocktail Party raising money for people can contribute 30,000 apie