To reach baghdad in 2003. The 40yearold moulton would be the youngest president ever elected. Tonight, hell take request es from democrats and independents who say they plan to participate in the democratic primaries and caucuses. So now, please welcome congressman seth moulton. [ applause. [ applause ] thank you. All right. Congressman, we got a lot of people here. This is a great crowd. Yeah, a good crowd. We have Great Questions here for you, tonight were going to start, obviously, after what happened in virginia beach, were going to start with what happened there, i was just there yesterday. 12 people murdered in government building by a city employee. Now gun violence obviously a major issue in america. Lets bring in holly oconnor. She has a question about that shes a Behavioral Health coordinator. Holly. Hi, how are you . Good, thank you. My question is, if elected, would you be willing to declare a National Emergency over the gun violence epidemic in america and ban all assault weapons and high capacity magazines . Thank you very much for that question. And thank you all so much for having me here to atlanta tonight. You know, its almost embarrassing to be standing here as a member of congress, given how little weve done about gun violence in america. I carried guns in iraq every single day, too. I had to use guns for my job. Guns saved my life. But weapons of war have no place on our streets or in our schools. And whether its declaring a National Emergency or pursuing executive action, i will do whatever i can to actually make progress on this gun violence plague in america. [ applause ] and what were talking about here, folks, isnt that crazy. The vast majority of americans, democrats, republicans, independents, agree we should have universal background checks on guns, there shouldnt be loopholes. I had the two most bipartisan gun bills in the last congress. One to to ban gun stocks, the nra baned from their own headquarters. And the second was, be prepared, this is a little controversy. Was to prevent terrorists from buying guns. Okay. This isnt that crazy. And weve even already banned weapons of war, just different ones. You know, in addition to those two guns, i carried two grenades on my chest every single day i was in iraq. I never blew myself up. I was very safe. I would feel comfortable having two grenades on me tonight. But would you feel comfortable . No. Okay so weve decide as a society that were not going to allow people to walk around with grenades. Grenades actually are really good for fishing. The iraqis used to try to buy them off of us. You just throw them in the pond, all the fish turn up dead. You dont need grenades to fish. You dont feed assault weapons to hunt. Two more quick things. We need to also have a conversation about Mental Health in this country. Republicans always [ applause ] republicans like to say that you just solve the Mental Health crisis and you wont have gun violence. Then they never fund Mental Health. Theyre wrong on both counts. Its not just going to solve the crisis on its own. We do need to fundaMental Healthcare. The last thing is we need to have a conversation about domestic terrorism. Because a lot of what is happening with gun violence in america. Its very simple. Its called careism. Its domestic terrorism p. Thank you. Congressman, let me ask you, because you mentioned weapons of war. Be you this shooter had two. 45 handguns, a suppressor. Reportedly he purchased them legally. So is there anything about your gun control proposal that would have prevented this shooting . Well, we should not have high capacity magazines, which i understand he had. Yes. You dont need a suppressor. Thats Something Like you know az assassins need to use. We shouldnt have that here at home. And i dont know all the details of this particular incident. But the fact that he was able to purchase the guns legally makes me say maybe we got some problems with our gun laws . [ applause ] lets bring in steve sarah fen sarafen, a semi retired gun owner. As an exveteran of war, how does your military feel as our sound president criticizes including last weak u. S. Citizens, expresident s and others while on foreign soil . And why would he accept the word of a tyrant or dictator over that of our own Intelligence Community . Thank you, steve, for that question. And thank you for your service to our country as well. I cant speak for all veterans. I can certainly speak for myself. I got a lot of problems with this president. But the some ways the most fundamental issue is you cant trust anything he says. I dont know about you, but the first less zorn i learned when i went to Marine Training was you can drop out of a run, theyll let you try the next day. You can fail a test, theyll probably let you retake the test. If you lie about anything, you are gone that afternoon. Thats how important trust is. When with it comes to leadership and life or death decisions about Young Americans. And i dont care whether are you the biggest trump supporter or hater, you just cant trust a word that this man says. [ applause ] so i could go on and on but maybe that says enough. Congressman, thanks let me ask you about something you said if 2016 during the campaign then. You compared president trumps rise to that of adolph hitlers rise. Do you still stand by that comparison . What i was talking about is the fact that tyrants can get elected and i think we all learned that in 2016. Right . Thats why elections matter. Are there any rhetorical lets say gashed rails for your campaign . Anywhere you will not go . Some people think a hitler reference would be too far. Well, of course, you have to be careful about what you say. I mean, the best example is the twitter account of our commanderinchief. So, you are right. In sports you have to be careful about what you say. You know, i just am trying to speak from my heart. And be real about the challenges that are facing america. And i think it would be better if more people in washington did that. You know, people often ask me, seth, why is congress so stupid . Why cant congress believe in Climate Change or whatever else . And i have only been there a few years. But my experience is most of my colleagues are pretty smart. Whats lacking in washington isnt intelligence. Its courage. Its the courage to speak the truth. Fair question. Lets go to maureen smith, a retired engineer. Maureen. Okay. Will you remove the absurd department of Justice Policy that a sitting president can be indicted and will you at least ensure that any charges against a signature president will be told so that the statutes of limitations do not expire . You know, this election isnt just about policies here and there. Its about our values. And one of our values in the United States of america is that nobody is above the law. Nobody. So the answer to your question is yes. And more than that, this is why i came out a year ago and said, congress should be doing its job and having a debate before the American People about impeaching this president. Because i understand, look, i disagreed with some of my fellow candidates in this race and some of our Party Leadership on this and i understand that the politics might be tricky. Okay. But how about just doing the right thing . You know, how about doing the right thing . Because i swore an oath to protect and defend constitution. How many of you have read the Mueller Report . A few. All right. Just read the executive summary. Dont read the whole thing. Read the executive summary and then come back to me and say that there is not enough everyday in there to be debating impeachment. So congressman, you say the politics are tricky. You disagree with some of your democratic colleagues. But their point would be that it could possibly be ill conceived if Republicanled Senate will not convict. To them you say what . To them i say, thats the senates problem. Our job in the house to do our constitutional rebuke. [ applause ] more with congressman seth moulton after a break. Now connecting 99 of baseball fans. Tmobile. I was told to begin my aspirin regimen, blem. And i just didnt listen. Until i almost lost my life. My doctors again ordered me to take aspirin, and i do. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Listen to the doctor. Take it seriously. Be right back. With moderate to severe Crohns Disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. Is she alright . I hope so. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. 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Say hello to an authentic favorite. Times two. Every day at marcos, get two medium, onetopping pizzas for 6. 99 each. Every store. Every day. The italian way. Hello primo. We are live from atlanta for a cnn president ial town hall event with congressman seth moulton. Congressman, we will start with eliza swiback here on my left, a clinical psychologist working with veterans who suffer from posttraumatic distress. How are you, moult season. Fine, thank you. I was concerned about your enclosure that you have been treated for ptsd related to your service. So what will you do as president to access and quality healthcare for everybody that needs it . Thank you so much for that question. Im so glad were discussing this, in this campaign. I will do three specific things. Let me first mention briefly my own experience because, frankly, i did not have the courage to share this before. I was afraid of the political liability. Even the you know the personal liability. My own family didnt know i was going to a therapist for posttraumatic stress. And i know that a lot of americans go through this as l well. 50 of americans that dont have posttraumatic stress dont seek care who have Mental Health dont seek care. We need to change that our economy will be stronger and our economy will be better if we deal with this issue. Just like we deal with physical ailments. Right . There shouldnt be a stigma if you break your leg. Gow to the hospital, get it fixed. Are you back on your feet. That should be the same with mental issues as well. [ applause ] so i hope by talking about this is an example to others. That others will be encouraged to share their stories, too. But i also have to say, that an inspiration to me was some of the Young Marines that i served with. Younger than me, who had the courage to share their stories even before i shared mine. So what are we going to do . The goal is to just make it routine that you get Mental Healthcare, just like you go and get an annual physical, regardless of whether you are sick. You should get a Mental Health checkup. Just like the doctor says, hey, are you eating well . Are you exercising . There are things you can do to be mentally healthy, too. I have learned about meditation andrea ga and by the way, these are practices that are now being used by our most elite troops. Because they realize it makes them stronger. So the three things that i will do with my Mental Healthcare proposal are, one, set an example with our active Duty Service Men around women and our veterans. By making sure that everybody on active duty gets a Mental Health checkup every year. That if you went to a combat zone, you get a checkup within two weeks of coming home. Its a checkup and then were going to use that as a model for the rest of america. And well start in high school. And every high schooler in america will just get an annual Mental Health checkup. Whether they need it or not just to say this is a healthy thing to do. The third thing is there are a lot of great Suicide Prevention and mental hot lines out there. We need to make one number everyone will remember. I think it should be 511. No matter you who are, veteran, nonveteran, everyone that needs to talk to someone, dial 511, you will be connected immediately to someone who can help. I know this is a personal issue for you, obviously. And but for the first time this week, you decided to share a traumatic experience that you had on your way to baghdad in 2003 i believe it was now. Now i know this isnt easy to discuss, but you decided to speak about it publicly. What did you hope that would do for veterans . What i hoped it would do is gratefully what i have seen it start to do this week. The people ask a lot whats the most meaningful thing you have done as a member of congress. Its definitely hold veterans town halls. Sort of like this, where veterans and nonveterans get together and veterans get a chance to share their stories and to talk about how their Work Overseas has affected their life at home and bridge that divide between veterans and nonveterans. So this week we held veterans town halls, focus specifically on Mental Health and the stories that ive heard have been incredible. There have been Vietnam Veterans who stood up and said ive never shared this story before from vietnam. But im sharing it today. Because other people are talking, too. Congressman, thank you for sharing and thank you for your service. Thank you for your service. [ applause ] on that question is from nick verneault a student at georgia tech studying chemistry. Hi congressman. You are a scientist. You wouldnt fit in very well in congress. On your website it states that you believe americans deserve affordable healthcare. Why do you stop short of supporting a single payer system . Thats a great question. Im so sure you asked it. My view is what president obama planned. Which is that we should have a public option like medicare for all or hopefully a more modern version of medicare since it was designed in 1963. But that should compete against private options as well because competition is good for the system. It keeps prices down. It improves outcomes. And i think that people should have choices for their healthcare. And i say this as the only candidates in this race who actually gets single payer healthcare. Because i made a commitment to continue going to the va when i was elected to congress. I said, look, as long as my fellow vets are going there and the system is pretty broken, i will see you first hand. And ive seen the good, the bad and the ugly of single payer healthcare. There are some things the va does really well. Like, for example, the va negotiates Prescription Drug prices. Medicare doesnt do that. That means our prescription prices at the va are lower than medicare. But i also got surgery shortly after i was elected. And to make a long story short, they sent me home with the wrong medications. Now, it just it was a painful night because i had a minor abdominal surgery. I thought it was a really big deal until my wife got a csection and i realized, whoa, it was not a big deal. But it hurt. And rather than give me the painkillers they had prescribed, the pharmacy sent me home with a bottle of advil. But the only way i suffered was because it was painful. Imagine if they had sent me home with a more powerful or addictive drug than the one i was prescribed. We heard of this story of veterans dying on lists and committing suicide in waiting rooms because they dont have enough Mental Healthcare professionals. So i dont want that system for you. I want different systems to compete just like they do with other things in america to give you the best healthcare in the world because thats what you deserve. [ applause. [ applause ] congressman, you have just talked about your experience with the va and in relation to med compare for all. Do you believe that the government is capable of implementing medicare for all . In a perfect world, yes. As a political reality, this is the other thing, its just never going to get passed. So, its not realistic right now. That doesnt mean we should aspire to have a single payer system. Frankly, look, if at the end of the day under my system, the same system that president obama wanted, if the public option out competes the private options, thats what we end up with, fine. Lets make it better along the way. Imagine if the next president comes in and says, you know what, folks, we dont need options for delivering packages. We will get rid of ups, we will outlaw them. Its just the u. S. Postal service, does anyone think it will make things better . I love the u. S. Postal system. They delivered my mail in iraq. I think competition is good for the system. If we have choices for delivering packages, i think we should have choices for something much more important, which is delivering healthcare. Next question, congressman, goes to will martin. A sophomore at georgia tech studying public policy. He was an interim faith canvasser on the stacy Abrams Campaign for governor. Will. Hi. Hi, representative, how do you expect the Democratic Party to nominate you, someone who has op