encouragement. thank you for the prayers. i love to be lifted up by the intercessory heirs of people all over the country. heidi and i feel that if projection. i'm inspired by what i see every allt when i see people across the country the grassroots rising up. that's what it will take to save this country. i'm energized and fired by your passion and dedication and i'm so proud that we are doing this together. host: mississippi on the democrats line. mr. cruz, i sort of lean towards democrat caught my attention and i appreciate what you do because you have written the problems in washington.

demand to realize the problems to straighten it out. i also want to ask you about social security. are you for lifting the limit on social security payout? make the government put back into social security the money that they take it out? anotheru for your time thing i like to stand for christianity in this world and i would like to see guineans putting bibles back in our schools. condoms theyass on ought to be able to pass out bibles. >> and if you pass out the ladder you have blessed with the former. i appreciate your words what is a democrat.

people, hard-working men and women find it harder and harder -- a low percentage of americans working today since 1977. we have wage stagnation. we need to fight to bring back the kind of economic growth that started the under ronald reagan in the 1980's. since do is always stand with the working men and women and not what i call the washington cartel which is the special interests and lobbyists and career politicians in washington that both parties get in bed with. we need to break the washington cartel and bring power back to the people.

you asked about social security. bulwark of our society and i in myit's yours possible view social security should follow for old. there one for seniors should be no changes whatsoever. we have ordered their financial affairs counting on the buses and we need to honor those commitments. for younger workers. i'm 44 years old. it's hard to find someone my age who believe social security will be there for us. that presents a real opportunity for reform when you have an who thinks it's not likely to be there. -- for there should be

younger workers we should gradually increase the those two age area changes alone and social security back. the third piece that i think is critical for younger work hours is we need to allow younger workers to keep a portion of their tax a minute and a personal account that they own that they control can pass on to their kids and grandkids. i want to bring together republicans and democrats with common sense plans to ensure host: richard is

joining us for texas and independent. caller: i'm a tea party got out here was my pleasure to vote for a sense of money to campaign all iston yesterday and can say is when you went out there and did what you said you were going to do and you're too much of a gentleman to white house's her competitors for the nomination bill to that an homage and just one of them i like to get your comment on and it's senator rubio was also to be guy was opposed by mitch mcconnell and john boehner and they did everything they could to defeat him but when he got elected he got up there and got in the and he joined in and got in the game here came an amnesty program and he didn't do what he said he was given a do and you

have in your too much of a gentleman to talk about it but if you have any comment on that think that folks might like to hear. i'm proud to support you again best of luck in the future. >> thank you very much thank you for the support. thank you for sending any contribution to the campaign at ted cruz.org. i will say the comment you started out with it is perhaps the thing that i hear back home in texas that most gratifies me i hear a lot are members of months ago i was at the museum interest -- in houston. there was a police officer there it was an african-american man that guy came up to me and said i didn't vote for you but also this you are doing what you said he would do. thinkat is powerful

people are fed up with all editions of washington using one thing into another. then he mention marco rubio area i like marco he's a friend of a colleague. as you know i disagreed with him when he joined with barack obama harry reid in proposing a massive amnesty and area i thought it was wrong and inconsistent with what we promised the voters and i promised the men and women affected that i against amnesty. no one else that is one of many issues unless there is a's start difference among the republican running for president. if you look at the 10 minute 11 standing on that debate to the majority of those candidates have publicly vocally supported amnesty and i'm the only candidate on that stage who has never supported amnesty and has can instantly it up and who effect led the fight against the massive amnesty plan that barack obama and harry reid rubio hall tried push forward. i'm proud of standing for the constitution and the rule of law

against amnesty. you have my word i wanted the exact same thing. on its color is a democrat from springhill florida. caller: i think you so much. i did hear the speech. in terms of the -- do you were any other republican candidates have plans to replace obamacare? >> thanks for calling. thank you very question. let me address it in two parts, first of all let's talk about what's happening with obamacare area under obamacare what we've seen is millions of americans have lost their jobs. that fourth of the part-time work millions of americans of

lost their health insurance and doctors the scene the premiums skyrocket. president obama told the american people electrically can keep it that wasn't true. millions had their plans cancel when they like them. the president promised that the average family will feature of reasons would drop, in fact the average family's premiums have lived risen. if single mom waiting tables trying to make ends meet that's a difference of $5,500 that's a lot of money for someone trying to make ends meet and millions of people are hurting. seen the people who've been hurt by this law think it's the essence of reasonableness to recognize it's not working let's repeal it and start over. you have to we should replace it with? i think health care report that

by expanding start the marketplace. what does that mean? will he give you three specific number one which allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines. currently illegal. with that would do is create a 250 state national market and. it would drive down costs and it and the availability of low-cost catastrophic health-care coverage. if you people don't have health care coverage when it on habit the biggest barriers cost area was obamacare qoa gives you fewer choices in our cost. secondly, we need to and health-care savings and.

for prevention and retain coverage area and third we need to wear a d-link health insurance from employment area it is a historical accident that it's tied to employment area if we lose our jobs we don't lose our car insurance our house insurance for your life insurance is the reason you should lose your health insurance. the worst want to lose because that's where we get much of the problems with pre-existing conditions. not able to get any policy because they gotten sick in the interim area and instead need to work for health insurance that is personal portable and affordable. host: let me follow up. the house have to budget reconciliation bill that would repeal part of the affordable care act. you said it didn't go far enough. why?

in both houses we promised the american people we would repeal every word of obama or are. urging leadersn of both houses is let's just do we promised. it's on the commitment we made to the men and women of this country and that's what it was leadership what do it's what i will continue to urge. we will go to brian in nebraska. caller: hello senator cruz. carter gen x, administration ties.

the 10,000 pound gorilla in the right now is illegal immigration. see thisives basically president going and just using every mechanism he can to flip whencountry with illegals they get detained the released and basically my biggest point is there going to turn the state because of the percentage of delegates to win 2020not this election but the republicans in the gop don't have a chance. you. >> i agree illegal immigration

is one of the greatest threat. president obama i think was being very truthful when he said he wanted to fundamentally transform this country area i think some people dismiss that as campaign rhetoric. i think he meant every word and one of the ways you looking to transform this country is by letting millions of people into this country illegally and in trying to legally get a man amnesty for the month cap the citizenship because he believes the people he's letting stream into this country will ultimately become democrats and keep the democratic party in power forever area i think that is a significant political threat but i think it's also a profound threat to the rule of law. it's affecting your safety and our security. i represent the state of texas we have 1200 and what miles of border with mexico. we do with national security threats every day from coyotes and criminals bringing people across the border not knowing is coming across and we need a president is committed to solving these problems.

the good news is our laws on the book are actually quite stringent. what lap that's what's missing is the political will to enforce them. the other people running for mostdent has republicans of the people on that stage have supported amnesty. if you are willing to support amnesty you are undermining rule of law and the constitution and if you want you need to look for a candidate who has a history of leading the fight against amnesty. and the only one who has a proven record of doing that is me. i will give you my word, if i am elected, we will secure the borders. i will use every executive power of the president to enforce the law to put boots on the ground, to use technology, and to get the job done. what is missing is the political will. i will provide that will.

host: shannon is our last caller. caller: good evening. how are you, senator? this is the happiest i have been in seven years. my question to you, sir, what do you plan on doing about isis? sen. cruz: thank you. if you look at isis, isis is the face of evil. they have declared war on america. they are crucifying christians. we need a commander-in-chief who stands up and says, we will

defeat radical islamic terrorists. we need a commander in chief who does not tie the hands of our military. we should set the goal of defeating isis. overwhelming airpower. look at the first persian gulf war, we launched 1100 era tax a day. day.r attacks a it is basically a photo op foreign policy. we should be arming the kurds. they are on the ground in iraq and syria in fighting against isis. isis is using american military equipment and the kurds, who are outdateds, are using military equipment. they are the boots on the

ground. it is only the administration's political correctness that prevents them from arming the kurds. if you join isis, if you wage jihad on america, you are signing your death warrant. part of your question was also utin. and p it is a response to the weakness of barack obama. of scoopi am reminded jackson. he said they were like a burglar who walks down the hall of the hotel jiggling the doors of each door looking to rob it. the only way to stand up to him as with a strong commander-in-chiefp. utin does not respect -- commander-in-chief.

respect obama. as reagan demonstrated, there are ways to stand up to russia short of military conflict. ukraine, obama should have responded with two things. immediately installing the anti-ballistic missiles. them andhe canceled that appeasement failed. time, there were 22 applications pending to export liquid natural gas. obama should have held the national tv conference and said he was approving every .pplication to export lng it would've helped the people of ukraine in europe to stand free of economic boycotts.

him where it hit hurts, in the pocketbook. john mccain refers to russia as a gas station with a country attached. it would have produced jobs and economic growth here at home. it was a no-brainer. the president did not want to do it. we can stand up and show strength to russia. we can defeat isis. in respect to the severe -- syrian civil war, we do not have a dog in that fight. the job of our military is to defend america and not nation build. personalouple of questions. what time did your day begin this morning and when will it end tonight? began at: the day

about 8:00 and i've been on the and i have done six or seven town halls, visiting coffee shops in traveling from town to town to town. andve done radio interviews a few meetings. tonight, i have three hours to drive and i will crash and get a few hours sleep and get up in the morning and keep traveling across iowa. host: how are you preparing for the debate on wednesday? sen. cruz: i have a great team of people who i really like and trust. we have done a number of mocks and we go through questions and do some back and forth. approaches, i try to spend time getting some sleep, spin solitude, spend time reading the bible -- spend solitude, spend time reading the bible and in prayer. i will say one thing that was

really encouraging in the first two debates, after the first debate, in the 100 hours that followed, we raised over a million dollars. after the second debate, we did not raise a million dollars in 100 hours, we raised a million dollars in 48 hours. i have been very encouraged by the response we have seen coming out of the debate and i hope we continue to move forward, keep building the momentum. host: finally, if snl asks you to guest host, would you do it? sen. cruz: absolutely. i grew up watching snl as a kid. her political satire -- there ir political satire is

hysterical. larry david is bernie. i am sure donald will knock it out of the park. host: republican from texas, presidential candidate, thank you for being here with us tonight. sen. cruz: god bless you. host: we will continue our coverage tomorrow evening as we take you to des moines, iowa, with martin o'malley and bernie sanders and hillary clinton. the event getting underway at 9:00 eastern. tomorrow morning, dave leventhal will be joining us. he discusses the latest round of campaign spending. a saturday roundtable with a former defense secretary in the

reagan administration and tom donnelly from the american enterprise institute. washington journal gets underway every day at 7:00. 3, a speechn c-span by governor ronald reagan that took place in 1967 in iowa. that online at c-span.org and on c-span 3 sunday afternoon at 4:00. up next, the democratic national committee women's leadership forum with lincoln chafee using the occasion to formally drop out of the race and remarks by debbie wasserman schultz.

♪ ms. wasserman schultz: good morning and welcome to the national issues conference at the women's leadership for um. thank you so much. dynamism ofd by the this year's participation -- participants. thank you to democrats all across the nation. looking out into the audience, i see new faces and familiar friends.

i want to take a moment to eight knowledge that we are holding this conference during breast cancer awareness month as new confusion are causing for women across america. there are three different groups 40 are the45, and recommended ages to begin receiving, grams. -- to begin receiving mammograms. i cannot say it loudly enough, women in america must be their own breast health advocate. continuallywareness on the rise and ask questions and seek information from their doctors. wednesday, when vice president biden made his announcement, he talked about his desire to engage in the fight to cure

cancer. for millions of cancer survivors, those words rang so meaningfully. things fromt great him. in honoring the service of our vice president, joe biden. this is an exciting year for the conference. we have lined up incredible and we are all looking forward to a special address from president barack obama.

ande its founding in 1993, ,hen first lady hillary clinton we work to and the gender disparity in politics. raising millions of dollars and recruiting women to work for -- to work in public office. we have developed a network of democratic women who are leaders in their communities at grassroots levels. so many of you have given your time and money and advocacy to helping us advance our candidates, initiatives, and values. i am thankful to each of you. thank you so much for your long-standing commitment because that is how our party has been able to help america move forward together. when looking at this powerful

network, we see a diverse party. differently. -- some cs differently -- see us differently. foxnews airwaves and said the dnc was run by an kabal.en cobal damn right it is. let me knowledge some of the fine pairs of ovaries. -- let me acknowledge some of the fine pairs of ovaries. we know how to get things done. women lead this organization. the democratic party recognizes

that. i want to name a few. ceo.onderful the women's leadership forum .irector staff.arkable senior we have smart and dynamic women taking our party to the next level. we have some pretty fantastic men working at the dnc, too. too. hear it for the men, [applause]

i will take us any day of the week compared to the gop presidential candidates. i will refer to them as team testosterone. debbie, how can you call them team testosterone when carly fiorina is running for president? having the same parts does not give you credit if you are wrong on every important issue. [applause] when you oppose paid leave requirements and when you live out women's health organizations, you are no better than any of the other republican candidates. out ofhad to get that the way. let's get on with our business of the day. for those of you were not able to join us yesterday, we had an

all day training session. that effort was to recruit and train women at all levels of democratic activism. attended so many of those trainings as a young college student when i was first beginning my career and those activities are what eventually helped give me the confidence to decide to run for office when i was 25 years old. fundraising,on civic engagement training. participants have the opportunity to engage with some of the brightest stars in our party. we have owned the important work of mobilizing, engaging, and training democratic women leaders.

we should be proud of our collective efforts these past two decades. but we should be clear about the work ahead of us. it is women voters who will put our democratic nominee in the white house as the 46 president of the united states of america. women voters make up more than half of the electorate. many of the issues in the public discourse are women's issues and family issues. equal pay in the workplace, increase in the minimum wage, access to affordable and quality child care, a solid education,

and paid family leave. those are real issues. this is about affording every paid familyn -- on leave, as paul ryan tries to cobble together enough of this conference to be the next speaker, he was very clear about his concerns about his family time. because of his young children. isn't it great that paul ryan can have that conversation in public and not be criticized for asking for more time with his family? i wonder if his name was paula ryan, it would have been as easy to speak out? every mother and father in america deserves that time, too.

democrats are the party of inclusion. our candidates walk the walk on a number of issues important to women and families. theie sanders has made paycheck fairness act a pillar of his campaign. leave o'malley once paid to be available for all families. lincoln chafee has highlighted the important of early childhood

education and environmental integrity. jeb bush does not think more laws are necessary to ensure equal pay and did not know what the fair debt -- paycheck fairness act was when asked about it. chris christie vetoed equal pay legislation. marco rubio said the paycheck fairness act was about scoring political points. rand paul compared it to the soviet bureau. ted cruz was all about shutting the government down over planned parenthood funding. he was the architect of the 2013

shut down the cost our economy $24 billion. marco rubio has indicated he would ban all abortions even in the case of rape and incest. --ald trump and ben carson don't get me started. what are they even talking about anyway? let me know if you figure it out. youht --h his out cannot make this stuff up. we cannot let republicans get away with distortions and warped visions in the 21st century.

if this crowd has anything to do with it, we won't. are democratic candidates --our democratic candidates delivered a strong performance last week. our candidates and the support of more than one million donors from all across the country in record time. our candidates have strong visions for moving america forward. they are so set in their ways, the only thing we have heard is they want to drag

america back to the policies that contributed to the great recession. you know what is at stake and you remember what it was like when we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. class wasiddle brought to its knees. we fought back, then we? -- didn't we? our country is stronger than that and we fought her way back thanks to democratic -- fought our way back thanks to democratic leadership. more than 13 million new jobs. millions of americans have health insurance that did not have it before and opportunities are being expanded to more and more families across america. that is what we want the american people to see.

i join you in your excitement to hear from all four of our incredible candidates in just a moment. mistake, there are elections in many states in just 12 days, including virginia and throughout the south. there are important local elections in many of your home states. i hope all of you will commit to knock on some doors. make sure we get people out to vote. we can make sure that candidates all across america will be building momentum until the elect a democrat. when democratic women vote, democrats win. ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for your ongoing support. we have our work cut out for us.

it will not be easy, but nothing worth fighting for is ever easy. i look forward to fighting side-by-side with you. that a make sure democrat is elected and sent to the white house. thank you so much. enjoy the forum today. ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, governor lincoln chafee.

gov. chafee: what a pleasure to join my fellow democrats. we are all dedicated to keeping the presidency and winning back the house and senate. we all know the republican agenda set back women's rights and i pledge all my energy towards a 2016 victory for democrats all across the country. message,e a winning building a strong middle class, investing in education and infrastructure, extending health coverage to more and more , a path to citizenship for those who have lived in the status -- in the shadows for too long.

we defend our civil liberties and women's reproductive freedoms, we respect the rights of rl gpt friends, -- of our lgbt friends, and understand that black lives matter, and we do need to do more for native americans. [applause] most of all, you can be sure that democrats will make good appointments to the supreme court. [applause] something that this country needs and deserves. i've been campaigning on a platform of prosperity through peace. after much thought, i've decided to end my campaign today. i would like to take this opportunity to advocate for a chance to be given to peace. today is all about women's leadership.

it reminds me of one of my favorite greek plays. bc.medy from 400 in that play, a group of women fed up with the warmongering of their husbands agree to -- how do i say this appropriately? withhold their favors until peace returned. and it worked. the end of the peloponnesian war. leadies show that women differently than men. when i was a senator, a general from the pentagon testified on global military powers. him, who is second to

the united states in military might? he said, probably the u.k. the point remains true. no real rival to the united states exists when it comes to total weaponry. we make virginia class submarines in rhode island. what a phenomenal piece of technology and craftsmanship. summer rains are just -- submarines are just one instrument in our arsenal of war. we are sinking ever deeper to an endless morass in the middle east and africa. it is evident that all this military power is not working for us right now. [applause] let me share a story from

vietnam. memorieshas some any for my generation. just this summer, former viet cong and eczema american gis were laughing, -- and ex- american gis were laughing and celebrating the fourth of july together. pilot whoe quoted a spent years in a hanoi prison. he said the vietnam -- vietnam and united states have so much in common. why did we do it, he was asked. i have thought about this for a long time. i am convinced the war could have been averted had we made the effort to understand the politics of the place. had we made the effort to

understand the politics of the place. from what i have heard, none of the republicans want to understand anything about the middle east and north africa. bellicosity and posturing.ho when i hear all this tough talk, i have deja vu about the evil viet cong. we should be different. democrat should insist on learning from the lessons of vietnam. it all could have been averted. i am not saying all countries are right. we must hold them accountable, but we cannot do that if we do not hold ourselves accountable and change our entire paradigm. strong,ed states is so militarily, economically,

if we have courage, we can have prosperity through peace. not just in the united states, but all over the world. do we want to be remembered as the bomber of weddings and hospitals? we want to be peacemakers. if american war veterans and viet cong fighters can laugh julyher on the fourth of -- counseledeisenhower us that only an alert citizenry can sure both security and liberty. -- can ensure both security and liberty. it is up to you to demand from your leaders and end to the endless wars and the beginning of a new era for the united

states and humanity. 2016!ocrats in [applause] thank you, democrats. thank you, women. [applause] ms. wasserman schultz: i know important special and message for all of us here and i would like everyone to join me in thanking lincoln chafee for his remarkable public service. [applause] as i was standing backstage and thinking about what words come to mind when i think about lincoln chafee, class act was

the first one that jumped into my mind. i want to share with you in a trip down memory lane what it was like when i heard that lincoln chafee decided to become a democrat. that was a big deal. when he joined our party, he made it clear that his former party had left him and they had gotten too extreme for him to be comfortable remaining as republican. lincoln chafee has been a public strong, and stood used his voice and made sure the people of his state, the great state of rhode island, had a governor who knew it was important to invest in education, to stand up and make sure that people who had no voice had his. and to make sure that he sounded a clarion call for peace as he did here with us this morning.

i thank lincoln chafee for his service in his commitment to electing a democrat to the white house in 2016. you so much. [applause] ♪ ["happy"] ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome nina turner. turner: good morning. good morning, ladies. i just want to have a keeping it real moment.

i want to keep it real. is that all right with you? i will forward all of my written remarks and just speak from the heart. i was here in 2013 and i want to thank congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, her leadership. ladies, the struggle israel. -- the struggle is real. to turn this thing around, it is going to take women to make a difference. if i could take you back down memory lane in this country's whenry just for a moment, country, theree was not a lot of diversity around the table. as a nation, despite all of our

flaws, the one thing we can say about this great nation of ours is that we have been a nation of progress. we've got some --ks who are so stupid ladies, we refuse to go back because it is too important to the nation of this country to unite based on the dat what we have in common and push this country to its greatest greatness. we do not need titles to do that. isles are good, but perfect better -- purpose is better.

jones kind of girl. she would pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living. folks who are committed to doing that. mother jones did not have a fancy title, but she stood up for coal miners, she stood up for babies to make sure this country had child labor laws. , ahink about women sharecropper from mississippi. she did not have a title, but she understood that it was important to symbolically show by her sweat and tears that african-americans had a right to control their own destinies. [applause] titles are good, but purpose is

better. it is not just about our reproductive health. we do not need legislative daddies and executive daddies to tell us what to do with all of this. we do not need it. in the great state of ohio, i got so fed up because i was not to make sure workers -- working-class folks deserve good and great. this is not about decent. it is about time we get the whole damn dollar.

introduced legislation to deal with erectile dysfunction. i was over it, sisters. i was over it. we have got to find creative ways to push this nation because only the future is at stake. only your future and the future of our children, that's all. when we live in a nation where we have to fight for voting rights again, only the future is at stake. to haveen have to beg access to high-quality health care, that is all. when we have to deal with

whether or not -- can you imagine this? -- sisters, ite is up to each and every one of us to use what we have to make a difference in this world and you do not need a fancy title to do that. titles are good, but purpose is better. [applause] we can do this thing. --i was at a sunday morning i know we have some ministers in the room. --i was at a sunday morning if god made anything, any little thing better than a woman, he must have kept it to himself. can i get an amen?

folks are going to give you the facts and figures. world to tell you this will not be right unless you are fulfilling your purpose and we have plenty of folks who did not did fancy titles, but they thing.ggone every single election is important. from school board members to the president of the united states of america. titles are good, but

purpose is better. being the oldest of seven children, having my mother die at the age of 42 years old. for some of the young women in here, that may be old, but that is awfully young to die. i had a conversation with the .reator of the universe, -- she did not have a life insurance policy and she had no money in the bank, but she loved her children. when we have elected officials who do not understand they have to care about the least of these, it is personal for me. id somebody written me off, would not have a fancy title in front of my name and fancy initials behind my name. we are a country who lifts

people. democrats, that is what we do. titles are good, but purpose is better. fire, youir is on need to act like your hair is on fire. be.e is no halfway way to there is no halfway way to be for women to control their own bodies. women need to make the whole damn dollar. vote, it is the way the country ought to be and should have the right to live a good life.

not decent. a good life. i want to send you out of here on a mission. to do what ever it is you can put your hands to to make a difference in this world. three things i want you to remember. fierce women shake the world. we have to get our shake on. the creator of this great universe has given us two hands, want to reach forward -- want to reach forward and want to reach back. -- and one to reach forward. we cannot ask folks to do more for us than we are willing to do ourselves.

work for everything that you get. sisters, we know all about that. grandmother,of my who was born in 1913, to a country that did not recognize her gift and talent because of her gender and her skin had been kissed by the sun. my grandmother could not read or write, but she could count her money. when i asked my grandmother what does it take to be successful in life, my dear granddaughter, all you need are the wishbone, the and the jawbone,

backbone. the wishbone will keep you hoping and praying. hope is the motivator. the dream is the driver. we hope and believe that tomorrow will be better than today. the our people counting on us to make sure that tomorrow is better than today. bone will give you courage to speak truth to power. sisters, we cannot be neutral. we cannot be neutral. if our hair is on fire, we ought to act like our hair is on fire. all of that stuff is good, but

it means nothing unless you have the backbone. the backbone will keep us standing through all of our trials and tribulations and we will go through some stuff in this life, but you cannot have a testimony without a test and we are being tested about whether or not we are brave enough, bold enough, strong enough, human enough, passionate enough, to aggoneup and do that d thing on behalf of ourselves and of generations to come. titles are good, but purpose is better. god bless you. titles are good, but purpose is better. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please

welcome senator bernie sanders. sen. sanders: thank you, good morning. you asked me to follow nina turner, thank you very much. cannot do that, but i will do my best. begin by thanking all of do inot only for what you fighting for women's rights, but for what you are doing to expand and improve our democracy. -- let me beasons very blunt about this -- one of the reasons i am running for president of the united states is that i worry very much that both economically and

politically, our country is sliding into oligarchy. [applause] issue that is not an you will see discussed much on tv, but it is the reality of what is happening in america. we are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. as we speak here and meet here this morning, millions and millions of families are struggling to feed their kids. rate ofthe highest poverty of any major country on and 40% of african-american kids are living in poverty. all of the same time as 50% of all new income is going to the 1% 1% and the top 1/10 of

owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. as a nation, we are going to have to ask ourselves whether it is morally acceptable, whether it is economically sustainable, that so few have so much while so many have so little. that has got to an economy we need that works for working families. [applause] economics, it is politics. as a result of the disastrous citizens united supreme court decision, millionaires and billionaires are pouring unlimited sums of money into the

political process through independent expenditures. in the last election last november, 63% of the american people did not vote, 80% of young people did not vote, and in today, millionaires and billionaires are buying the elections. is that what democracy in this country is supposed to be about? i think not. the truth is as all of you know, republicans win win voter hen -- whenlow --w voter turnout is low, when they look to washington and they say, i am looking longer hours for lower wages, what are you doing

to me? when they do not have health insurance, what are you doing to me? cannot afford to send my kids to college, what are you doing for me? when people give up on the political process and don't vote in large numbers, when republican governors suppress the vote, republicans win and we lose. what do we do? clear thatis make it in this country, we need a political revolution. [applause] establishment politics, the

establishment economics is not going to do it. if you want to win an election, you win an election from the white house on down, you rally working-class people who have given up on the political process. people who have given up on the political process. you bring people together who are prepared to say loudly and clearly, enough is enough. our government belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires. [cheers and applause] if we do not do that, and if ol'type ofsame election and of millions of

working people and young people do not participate, republicans will win and we will lose. i'm extremely gratified in my campaign so far that we have hundreds of thousands of people to come out to our meetings and 750,000that we have individuals who have made come pain contributions, not billion-dollar contributions, but $30 apiece. contributionsl than any campaign in american history. win when people come together , when we reject the division of men versus women, of straight

versus gay, of black versus white, of people born in this country as opposed to people that is what they want. we win elections when we stand together and we say, you know what? in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, the wealthiest people and the largest corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes. elections when we say to the working people in this country, we know you can't make it on eight or nine bucks an hour, and that is why we are going to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. and that is wh