professional political class of either party you don't challenge the status quo. that is how under republicans and democrats alike our government has gotten bigger and bigger for 50 years and more complicated and what happens when government gets big and powerful and complicated? only the wealthy, powerful and big handleal it and the small and power less get crushed. when i say i am a republican i am a republican because i believe that people have the capacity to live lives of purpose and dignity. it is also you -- you can applaud. it is okay. it is rue whatever your party or affiliation and i have democrats and republicans and independents show up at my events but the american people have found common ground on a lot of

things. not on everything. but a lot of things. and let's start with our common ground. when 75% of the american people think the federal government is corrupt what does that mean? its democrats, republicans, independents, its young, old, men, women. when 80% believe we have a professional class that cares more about its privilege than on getting anything done republicans and democrats have exempted themselves from all of the laws they passed then matt means once again democrats, republicans, independents agree we need do something different and that is why i am running for president. [applause] >> we all know who you are. i would like to thank you for calling on me. we know who you are. i would like to introduce myself

to you. i am holly, a u.s. states navy member. [applause] >> i don't actually have a question for you tonight what i do have is a challenge. you see during bill clinton's second administration in the middle of the night by wave of the pen he changed the terminology to pow mia to duty status whereabouts unknown. he did this because it was more media-friendly. what it did was change the urgency of the situation and their military classifications and put additional stress on families especially those that live in military housing. with the recent and penning issues surrounding beau bergdahl

it is important now than every that the terms be restored so those serving in harms way today are protected by the terminology. so i am approaching you, mother-to-mother, in an effort to protect my son and his family and every other son and daughter of this nation, i am challenging you to show the world that if elected president of the united states you will be the woman who had the courage the men didn't have and change that terminology in your first hundred days. [applause] >> i accept. [applause] >> thank you first of all. and thank you for your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your son

and his family. it is a stain on our nation's honor when we do not honor and respect and care for and lift up those who serve and those who had served. there is no more heart-breaking engaging infuriating example of the professional political class in an enempt corrupt government in how we deal with our veterans and how we deal with those who have served. but it is also, ladies and gentlemen, an example of you power. let me tell you a brief story and then i will return to the specific one in a moment. do you remember when we learned about the scandal at the va in arizona? we learned veterans were dying

before they received an appointment and bureaucrats were cooking the books so no one found out. the scitizens of this nation wee so outraged that you used your power and flooded congress with objection and this political class moved. in three short weeks, this congress passed a bipartisan bill sailing through the senate 99-0 and the president signed it, and that bill said you could fire the top 400 senior executives at the va. sadly, we all moved on and the political class forgot about it like they always do because the pressure was abated. one person has been fired. we are learned 307,000 veterans died waiting for health care and the va handed out $142 million in bonuses.

we cann we cannot settle for this. this is a stain on our honor. [applause] >> so not only do i accept your challenge mother to mother, i will also tell you this, i will promise you this, hold me accountable for this, as commander and chief i will promise you i will value, i will respect, i will listen to, i will care for those who serve, those who have served, and those who are willing to serve so help me god. >> seeing as you an influential women today i would like to know more about your stance on the issue of abortion. >> well, i am pro-life.

[applause] allow me to tell you why. first all come from the world of science and technology. science is, i think, proving those of us who believe this right every day. we know the dna in a zygote is the same dna as the day you die. i cannot draw this line. i accompanied a very good friend of mine to planned parenthood when i was about 23. she wanted my support. and i watched while she was given no choices, no options. i also watched what that procedure did to her emotionally, physically, and spiritually. a couple years later i met my husband. when we got married, 31 years ago, i learned from his mother

she had been told to abort him. she chose not to. she was a woman of courage and faith. she spent a year in the hospital after his birth. but her son, my husband, became the joy of her life. he has been the rock of mine for over 30 years. i think often about how different my life would be had he not been in the world. a couple years later i learned i could not have children of my own so i know how precious the gift of life is. i do not ask everyone to agree with me but i do say the american people, american women on this issue as well, have found common ground. the common ground we have found is this: everybody, the majority of americans believe that abortion for any reason after five months is wrong, let us take that common ground and finally pass the unborn child protection act.

we have also found common ground that the american people are horrified that planned parenthood is harvesting body parts. fetal tissue for research purposes. you may have noticed how strongly i have stood out and spoken against that and how much heat i took from the liberal media. but the reality is the first budget carly fiorina submits will have no funding for planned parenthood. [applause] >> i have been a republican for 22 years. we have had too many republicans who have not served us well. every since ross perot started with we have to take our country

every politician says the same thing. nobody ever says who we are going to take it back from. i know who we are going to take it back and so does donald trump, bernie sanders and i know you know, too. tell everybody who we are taking the country back. >> we are taking it back from the professional class, the big and powerful that control them, the special interest. we are taking this country back from the establishment that is benefited by a big, complicated powerful government. that is who we are taking it back from. we are taking it back from people who use all of that complexity to their advantage. you see when you have a big powerful government it creates more and more crony capitalism. bernie sanders said crony

capitalism is a problem and he is right. the lie is this. sanders' solution is bigger government, more complicated government, and that just creates more crony capitalism. think about the democrats' solutions. dodd-frank. the financial crisis -- how did that start? fannie mae and freddy mack. government sponsored entities. government decided it was a good idea for everybody to own a home. none of the government agencies did their job. when the crash happened what did democrats do? they passed dodd-frank. they didn't reform the 25 agencies. no one reformed fannie mae or

freddy mack. we have ten wall street banks too big to fail who are now five and even bigger and more powerful wall street banks mean while 1590 community banks are out of business and 20% of the credit union industry is out of business and why does that matter? community banks and credit unions serve who? small businesses, new businesses, families struggling and we are crushing them and wall street gets bigger and bigger. bernie sanders knows the problems but his solutions will not work but they will take us to socialism which is apparently what he wants. donald trump is a business man. he is a crony capitalist, ladies and gentlemen, and admits it over and over again. and by the way, we do not need another nars cyst in the white

house who talks about us but only cares about himself. >> on a personal note, you mention my dad and he was -- >> how great to meet you. >> and he spoke about better ways to tax. given the current tax code, he is saying the same stuff you are saying now. my question is this: we have shockingly enough over 300,000 people that have died from gunshots in the past decade and we have done a lot of things wrong. i am not interested to know what you think about president oba obama's plans or what he did in

the past. my question is given the multiple facets of that problem do you have a plan that you would envision to try to reduce that total? >> so first we need to enforce the laws we have competently. and the reason we have to start there dillion roof in south carolina, the young man who stormed into a church and murdered nine people, he never should have been sold a gun. the fbi admitted it. we didn't do the background check right. and president obama in his speech said we need more fbi agents and more dea and atf agents. my question to the president is where have you been the last seven years? secondally the reason you have gun violence, incredible -- secondly -- levels in cities like chicago that have the toughest gun laws in the nation

is because there are loads of criminals who own guns. we know who they are. the justice department has lists of criminals who should not own guns and who do. and you know how many of those people are being prosecuted? less than 1%. if we want to keep people safe let's take guns out of of the hands of the criminals who are not supposed to have them. if we want to change the laws of this country then there is a way to do that. and it isn't with executive orders. it is with the people's representatives. that is part of returning power to the people. the things that president obama put forward in his executive order about background checks actually they have failed in congress on a bipartisan bases twice. so if it is really true that the american people are fired up about this let's get laws pas d

passed. but it is not the role of the president to say i don't look this law and i am going to do something different. that is called lawlessness. just as his immigration executive orders have been lawlessness. he is not the only president who abused the power of the presidency but part of returning to a citizen government is remembering what the president's job is and what the legislature's job is. and by the way we have a good blueprint for that it is called the constitution, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] >> let's enforce the laws we have. yes, ma'am? >> my name is mish michele sanborn. you talk about putting the power back into the hands of the people and citizen government a few times. i live locally and our community has been subjected to corporate power and privilege overriding our local decisions.

in our community, we passed what is called the rates-base ordinance which is a local law enacted by the people to subord nature the power and privilege of business entities that come in and violate our right to protect our health, safety and welfare. we are being told as far as law today that this is illegal because corporations have the power to override states and wharf often use the power and privilege in they created many of these state and corporate government agencies. so you have individuals coming from the corporate industry and then in turn serving in the state agencies and they are regulating their own industry and writing those laws. so, we have a grassroots organization in new hampshire, the new hampshire community rights network that has proposed a constitutional amendment for

the state of new hampshire to secure the right of local community self government. i am not talking about home rule. home rule is a myth keeping the municipality bonded and has the right to take the choice away. we are talking about local communities to enact rights-based laws, expand and protect people community and nature so you can collectively protect your natural resources, your local economics, etc. what is your stand on that proposal? >> well, that is up to the people of new hampshire. that is up to the people of new hampshire. >> we get that choice? >> of course you get that choice. the constitution is clear that specific power not enumerated to the government is up to the states.

let me address the larger issue if i may. let us be honest, eminent domain, this unholy alliance between big powerful interest, whether they are unions or businesses, and big complicated government is what we to take our country back from. you are right. big companies often work with a legislature to get laws passed so they can overturn the will of the people. it is a perfect example of taking our country back. the united states federal government should only be doing those things the federal government is responsible for doing. kind of a unique concept, isn't it? let me say two other things here. we are no longer a nation of laws. we have become a nation of rules. think about how many rules, and i would consider executive orders part of this rulemaking,

think about how many rules out of washington, d.c. in the last year alone, it has been 86,000 pages of rules. we have been rolling out tens upon tens of thousands of pages of rules every year for 40-plus years. ask yourself who are the -- democrats and republicans alike -- ask yourself who are these rule makers? they are not elected, not accountable, nameless, faceless bureaucrats that spew rules out of washington, d.c. i will tell you what i am going to do. number one, first rule we have to appeal in law is obamacare. yes, obamacare is a law. but it is also accompanied by tens of thousands of page of rules. and by the way, did you know buried in the pages of all of those regulations of obamacare is the takeover of the student

loan industry? and the federal government decides now that your child is going to pay between 4.5-6.5 percent interest on the loans the federal government gives and the federal government only pays 1.5-2.5 percent of the debt. the federal government is making money off your young people. does that strike you as a racket? it is. i will do more than repeal obamacare. we have to do a top to bottom review of every single rule on the books. when was the last time we did that? never. when was the last time you can remember a regulation was repealed? well, actually not never. reagan repealed the 55 mile per hour national speed limit,

deregulated the airline and trucking industry. that is a long time ago. why doesn't this stuff happen? why doesn't this happen? it is the difference between managers and leaders. they don't challenge the status quo. they operate within the status quo and maybe, just maybe, they take advantage of the status quo. that is a manager. i leader knows their job is to challenge the status quo. that is the only way you solve festering problems. margaret thatcher is great hero

of mine and she said this one: " i am not content to manage to decline of a great nation. neither am i, but i think with your support, i am willing to lead the resurgeance of a great nation. >> we have time for one more question. one more question. >> sorry, this gentlemen had his hand up. >> do you think that you should add to your list term limits? >> i think term limits are a great idea. when we get through this list these are not the only things we have to do. these are just the important things we have to do first. once we get to this list, do you believe in term limits and want that law passed, perhaps one for

yes and two for no. >> i had a politician ask me what they can do for me and i said stop making laws so we can catch up on the old ones >> there you go. i might borrow that from you. if you didn't get a chance to ask your question you can ask in your line. thank you for being here. i think it is hot and the middle of the first week back so thank you for being here. this is not going to be quick and easy as i said. but that is not what we are all about. but we can restore possibilities for every american regardless of their circumstances. we can cut the government down to size and hold it accountable. we can lead in the world and honor and value those who help us in that leadership and serve to keep our nation safe every day. we can do these things. but we cannot do them unless we are prepared to challenge the

status quo of the professional politicians unless you as citizens are prepared to use the power you have. so i will ask you again whether you see me one time, two time, or three times, join me, stand with me, support me, vote for me, citizens, it is time. it is time to take our future back, our politics back, our government back. it is time to take our country back. god bless you. thank you for being here tonight.

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announcer: tonight, democratic presidential candidates speak at a dinner, starting with hillary clinton. then, former governor martin o'malley and senator bernie sanders. more road to the white house campaign coverage friday with ohio governor john kasich, holding a town hall meeting in exit her, new hampshire. live at 5:15 on c-span. on saturday, governor kasich will join jeb bush, ben carson, chris christie, carly fiorina, mike huckabee, and marco rubio presidential forum. the candidates will be questioned by house speaker paul ryan and south carolina senator

tim scott. 10:20 amatch that at eastern on saturday. has 48er: "book tv" hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend on c-span2. here are programs to watch this weekend. saturday, book tv is at the university of wisconsin with history professor william t jones to discuss his book "the martian washington." -- march on washington." >> this went to the core of many peoples believe somewhat the nation should be. positionss people's of hatred and their commitment to any quality. announcer: afterwards, a look at the former vice president dick cheney in the book "cheney: one-on-one."

no one on the right has attracted as much vitriol as dick cheney. announcer: molly crabapple talks about her journalism, political art, and her latest book, "drawing blood." molly: i started with essays. i had five published pieces before i got the book deal. people really liked them. fantasyis delusional since i had written a 2000 word essay, a book would not be that hard. ha, ha ha. announcer: watch book tv all weekend on c-span2. television for serious readers. students around the country are working on c-span's student cam document or a contest, telling

us the issues they wanted presidential candidates to discuss. through social media we are following students as they produce their videos. here is a tweet from indiana, "canterbury, fort wayne eighth-grade students were excited to hear real ben carson address gun control. , ather from maryland principal at eastern middle school tweeted, "this week two ems students interviewed eric holder. also, illinois representative tweeted, i was interviewed by students for their c-span project. is $100,000 in prizes with a grand prize of $5,000. the deadline is january 20, 2016. the winners will be announced march 9. for more information visit our website student cam.org. announcer: i wednesday, the democratic potential candidate, hillary clinton, marilyn --

martin o'malley, and bernie sanders visited las vegas. the event was cohosted by the nevada state democratic party and harry reid. nevada democrats hold their caucuses on figure 20. this is an hour and a half. -- every 20th. his is an hour and a [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. whoa, what a great night. hello nevada! [applause] it is so exciting to be here with you.

the battle orange, the battleground. this is the beginning of a great movement forward to make sure we have a huge turnout for the caucus and then we go on and win nevada for the democrats again. [applause] i want to thank roberta lang and everyone who has worked so hard to build our party from the bottom up all over the state and what an amazing dinner. roberta and i were standing up here after senator reid introduced us and let daughter all of you with the excitement and energy that you are projecting and she said, you tell those folks in new hampshire and iowa we have got something going right here in

nevada. [applause] now personally, personally i will never forget how many of you have opened your hearts to me and my family, not just this year but over so many years and i promise you this. i promise you, you will always have a friend in the white house sim your president. [applause] i am grateful for all the volunteers, the captains and the labor organizers, the state legislators, all of you here tonight or you are the heart and soul of this campaign.

i love you you all too, thank you. [applause] most of all, i want to salute and thank my friend, our leader in the senate, the pride of searchlight, harry reid. [applause] harry deserves the thanks not only from the state but from our nation for his decades of service. no matter how high harry flies he never forgot where he started from or who he is fighting for and i have seen first-hand how committed harry reid is to helping working families across nevada and across america and to build the democratic party here

and everywhere. you have a slate of candidates. my friend congresswoman dana titus is doing such a great job for you. [applause] i am so proud to have her support and she just introduced me to a group that she referenced in an elvis presley song and as i recall it was something like born standing and ready to fight. well that's what dena does every single day and i want to really put my support behind your next senator, catherine cortez.

[applause] catherine is so well prepared, so focused on what she can do for you in the senate. i just hope everybody takes her as a high priority going forward. we need here in the united states senate. all the democrats running this year, they need your support and i will offer my support as well. right now i am not only running for president but raising millions of dollars for our state party to help rebuild the infrastructure you need to win because i know we are all in this together. [applause] and the next president is going to need a strong partner to get the job done so we have to elect democrats up and down the ticket

because we have seen, haven't we, when republicans win. just look at what's going on here in nevada. they are undermining public education with a misguided voucher fee that puts at risk teachers jobs and students futures. you even have a republican congressman, mr. hardy, who says that mitt romney was right about the 47% and the people with disabilities are and i quote m., a drain on society. you have an attorney general who seems to have made it his mission to tear apart hard-working immigrant families and in washington as harry knows so well, republicans keep trying to give more tax breaks to the super wealthy, take away health

care from 18 million americans and today for the first time they succeeded in passing a bill to repeal the affordable care act and 2-d fund planned parenthood. well i will tell you what, it's a good thing that we have got barack obama in the white house to veto that terrible idea. [applause] but i wanted to stop and think for a minute. it's scary to think about this, passing that to the congress but in january of 2017 the new president is going to walk into the oval office, and america can't afford a republican who will rip away all the progress we have made. just imagine what they would do on the first day. they will repeal president

obama's executive action protecting immigrant families. they will repeal the tough new rules on gun dealers and polluters that he has signed. that's just what they would do the first day. then, they would get back to their failed agenda. they would set the tax code even more for those at the top. they would do everything they could to bust unions and set back working families, round up and deport millions of immigrants, put consumers at the mercy of drug companies insurers and predatory lenders and if given a chance they would appoint more right-wing justices to the supreme court. and it could very well be they would get us into another costly ground war in the middle east. that's their agenda, folks. that is what is at stake in this

election. we cannot sit idly by and let them take our country back. we have come too far. we have fought too hard. all across america families have rolled up their sleeves. they worked their way back from the worst financial crisis in our lifetime. and here in nevada you were hit harder than most. people lost their homes. they lost their jobs. they take second jobs that would give them extra shifts to have each other's backs. your hard work has helped bring america back. so we are standing that we are not yet running the way america should greatly have a lot of work to do to build on the progress of the past seven years. we face complex challenges around the world as we just saw last night from north korea. we have too many families struggling here at home trying to get ahead and stay ahead.

we need a president who has what it takes to get the job done and made a real difference for you. it means doing all parts of the job. making this economy work for everyone, not just those at the top, keeping families safe in our country, tackling the problems that families talks to me about the stresses they keep him up at night caring for a loved one struggling with alzheimer's or autism or addiction. and here's what i believe and here's what evidence tells us. when families are strong, america is strong and america grows when your paycheck grows. [applause] that's what i believe. that's why i have proposed a plan to create more good-paying jobs by investing in green energy like you are doing here in nevada with solar and

geothermal and wind, by investing in advanced manufacturing and putting americans to work modernizing our roads, our bridges, our ports and airports. the nation to build the hoover dam can't build a 21st century electric grid to power our 21st century economy and create so many new jobs doing it. [applause] and i am the only candidate here tonight who has pledged to raise middle-class incomes, not middle-class taxes. i want to lower your taxes. [applause] by helping you with the cost of health care, caring for an aging parent. the republicans, what do they do? will they just bomb it big giveaways to the super rich and big corporations are our day gaming the system.

they should pay their fair share and under my administration they will. no corp. should get rewarded for sending jobs or profits overseas. no wall street manager should pay lower rates and tax than a teacher or a nurse and if we want paychecks to grow but start by raising the minimum wage. let's make it easier for workers to organize and bargain. let's make sure that women finally get equal pay for the work that we do. [applause] and let's make it easier for parents to balance the demands of working families with affordable childcare and paid family leave. [applause] now i've got to tell you

whenever i talk about this and i get pretty passionate about it, republicans say well, there she goes again, playing the gender card. well as fighting for women and families and playing the gender card, deal me in. [applause] [applause] i have got to tell you, i am proud to be running in the democratic primary with my opponent. they have a lot of good ideas and we share a lot of the same values, and the differences between us pale compared to what we see on the other side.

[applause] but your choice in the caucus really matters. on february 20, you will begin the process of choosing a president who has what it takes to stand up to the republicans, to make a real difference for american families, a president who can get the job done and not a few issues but all the complex challenges that we face. [applause] and i do not believe -- i do not believe that we are going to raise incomes for middle class families by raising taxes. i don't believe we are going to ease their burdens by making them pay for donald trump kids to go to college for free.

i don't believe that you can stop the drug companies and the big insurance companies by tearing up the affordable care act and forcing americans to start all over again. that plays into the hands of the special interests i've been laying out plans that will help families get ahead, stay ahead and make the wealthy pay for them, hold corporations accountable, keep our families safe from gun violence and terrorism, prevent the republicans from taking us backwards. i know how to find common ground and i know how to stand my ground. i will go anywhere to meet with anyone at any time to find a path forward. that's what i've been doing for decades as first lady, senator and as secretary of state. that's how i helped the health insurance program that covers 8 million kids. it's how i help secure a treaty with russia and reduce the threat from nuclear weapons and

you can also count on me to stand my ground, especially when it comes to those powerful interests that are holding back american families. ask yourself this, if the republicans weren't worried, then why are hedge fund ilya mares already running ads against me? [applause] why are the koch brothers throwing in everything they have got to stop me? do you know why? they know i will stand up to them and defeat their right-wing top down agenda that is bad for america and we are not going to let it happen. [applause] and they know something else. they know i will stand my ground against drug companies that are gouging us with skyrocketing drug costs against polluters who

are poisoning our air and water. we are going to cut that climate change not deny it, give the gun lobby that has lost every commonsense reform even keeping guns out of the hands of prospective terrorists on the no-fly list. if you are too dangerous to fly you are too dangerous to buy a gun in america. [applause] and i will continue to stand my ground against those who -- against prejudice and paranoia and spread hate against immigrants, muslims, lgbtq mertens or anyone else they can scapegoat and demonized, insulting each other won't solve anything. you cannot make our country great by tearing our people down [applause]

so, let's remember, let's remember we have to work together and grow together. i want to give you two quick examples. first, we need comprehensive immigration reform with a path to full and equal citizenship. [applause] i am so sorry that this used to be a bipartisan issue, didn't it? not a single republican candidate, not one clearly and consistently support a real path to citizenship. you are right, donald trump calls mexicans racist and drug dealers. he says he wants to round up and deport 11 million people. senator rubio helped write the 2013 immigration bill.

now he renounces it. now we know this is going to be a difficult fight so we have to stand together and keep the pressure on. we have to reach out and make the case again and again and remind people that comprehensive immigration reform could raise wages for millions of workers and add hundreds of billions of dollars to our nations economy. [applause] we have to remind people that at its heart this is a family issue. if we say that we support families in our country, that has to mean something. hard-working parents shouldn't have to prepare the kids for the possibility that mom or dad might be hauled away at any time and congress still refuses to act as president i will defend president obama's executive action. i will go further. there are many undocumented people with deep ties in their

communities who deserve a chance to stay like the parents of the dreamers i met here in las vegas and i will fight for them. i will close private immigration detention centers. eyewall and family detention. we have -- and i will work to ensure that every refugee who seeks asylum in the united states has a chance to tell his or her story especially children fleeing from violence. [applause] immigration reform is a big issue that dominates the headlines but i want to give you an example of another problem. it doesn't make as much news but has a real impact on millions of families. i think the president has to be able to deal with challenges as big as the world and this follows your kitchen table. everywhere i go across america

people share very painful stories of addiction and substance abuse with me. how many of you have a loved one who has struggled with this? raise your hand, please. you know, last sunday in new hampshire at the town hall but called on the young girl. she had been raising her hands and she told me she's now living in foster care because her mother overdosed. she asked me what more i can do for kids and families in similar situations. the truth is i think there's a lot more we can do if we work together. we can invest in treatment, not more jail, better training for prescribers, easier access to it anti-overdose drugs and effort that will help people with addiction go to recovery, not prison. not long ago i saw a great example of what we can do.

sheila leslie suggested i go to the community program in reno called crossroads. it's run by the sheriff's office and catholic charities. they were tired of seeing the same people in and out of jail, and then out of emergency rooms with no hope of breaking the cycle of addiction. so he said let's try something different for people can spend the night with counseling and support and some tough love. since 2011 crossroads has saved county taxpayers an estimated $20 million. [applause] by keeping hundreds of people out of the hospital and that of prison. you know i love this, i love it as a model. it's really america, isn't it? will become together to solve problems a share for the priests sit down together and say our

people are hurting, let's try something different. we americans may differ and bicker and stumble and fall but we are at or past when we pick each other up, when we respect their differences and each other i know it's unusual for a candidate running for president to say we need more love and kindness in a country but i think we do. we all have to do our part. [applause] as parents and grandparents and neighbors and co-workers and citizens, we have to look out for each other. we have to strengthen our families, our communities and our sense of common purpose as americans whether you are at dishwasher in las vegas or a coalminer in kentucky or an unemployed young man in chicago, i want you to feel like you have a stake in our country's future in the country has a stake in your future too.

we can't forget that. no one should be left out or left behind. we are all part of this great experiment we call america no matter where you are from or what you would like her who you love. on the granddaughter of an immigrant factory worker and a grandmother of the most wonderful little girl in the world. [applause] bill and i will do everything we can to ensure she has the opportunity to succeed but i don't believe it should have have to be the grandchild of a former president to share in america the teacher's firefighters and housekeeper should have that chance to nna and that's really what is at stake in this election. what kind of country are we going to be? are we going to be defined by fear and resentment or about -- or by what presently can call the better angels of our -- as

your present i will be the first line of defense against the dangers we face. i will always have your back but i can't do it without you. i need you and you have a real responsibility because you are the first line of defense. when you caucus on february 20 it's up to you to choose the right person to stand up to the republicans, protect everything we have achieved, keep america moving forward. please join me, help me fight for you, deliver for you, protect you and make america all we know it can be. thank you and goodnight. [applause] thank you. [applause] ♪ ♪

[applause] >> it's good to see you guys. thank you very much. it is wonderful to be here in nevada. how is everybody doing tonight? [applause] are we democrats fired up, ready to go? it is wonderful to be here with all of you and i also want to thank harry reid for his outstanding leadership of our nation. senator reid thank you for everything you do. [applause] my name is martin o'malley. i am the former mayor of alt-a more and the former governor of maryland. i am a lifelong democrat and i'm running for president of the united states. i intend to win and i need your help. [applause] i am honored to be on this stage

with fine candidates like hillary clinton and senator sanders and all of us joining with you in finding a better way forward for our country. my experience though is different than my other two competitors. i'm not a former united states senator oren former congressperson that i have learned how to bring people together to accomplish difficult things. i'm not an adviser but i have put together some terrific tasks of talented and diverse men and women who know how to get rings done. my experience is as executive, a mayor and the governor bringing people together, getting things done. what sort of thing is? , not words. the first date in the union to pass a living wage, raising the minimum wage, investing more in public education rather than

making our public schools number one in america five years in a row. these are actions, not words. four years in a row without a penny increase to college tuition, investing more in our infrastructure, making my state number one in innovation and entrepreneurship, passing the climate change bill and taking actions like these, driver's licenses and passing the d.r.e.a.m. act in maryland. [applause] passing marriage equality, repealing the death penalty and passing comprehensive gun safety legislation, actions, not words. [applause] look, i know that sometimes it's easy to become discouraged about the gridlock and our national politics by the division and polarization of our nations deliberative body and when that

happens to you i want to urge you to do as i do and that is if you want to know where our country is headed talk to young americans under 30, because you will rarely find among them young americans who denied that climate change is real or think that their nation shouldn't do something about it. you rarely find among them people who want to slam america store in the face of refugee families facing genocide. and you rarely find among them young americans who want to deny rights to couples and all of this tells me that we are actually moving to much more connected much more compassionate and much more generous place. we have only the needed new leadership to call forward the goodness within us to move our country forward. so nevada, i am here to challenge you, to challenge you

to point the way forward for our country at a time when it seems like the money is taken over our politics here in the nevada caucuses, every individual still matters, don't they? [applause] so i want to share some thoughts with you tonight about our country about where we need to head and the actions we need to take to move us forward. one of the most important lessons i learned about our country and about the american dream, i learned when i was 17 when i was working in a restaurant and i saw this new american immigrant man. his name was mcgill and without him that restaurant would not function. he was there early to open up the place busing tables. i watched him working tirelessly

night after night, the heart and soul of the place and at the end of one long night i remember asking him i said miguel, how was it that you worked so hard and instead of answering me how, he told me why. three very powerful words. he said for my dadar. [applause] you see you and i are part of a self creating mystery called the united states of america. at the heart of it is a very real and hungry thing and that is those among among us and between us but say in our country you start where you start but for your own hard work you should be able to get ahead and give your children and grandchildren a healthier and better future. my wife katie and i have for

terrific kids, grace, tara and william and jack and my oldest daughter is a first grade teacher in her third year at carter elementary school in baltimore city. any teachers in the audience hear? [applause] several months ago after her dad had announced -- she returned to her first grade class 100% african-american kids true story a little girl tapped her on the shoulder and she said ms. o'malley i'm not sure about this idea of your father running for president. because quite frankly i kind of like barack obama. a lot of buzz like barack obama, right? [applause] eight years ago when our nation was on the verge of being plunged into a second rate -- by

the unchecked greed of wall street we brought forward as the party a new leader and barack obama to move our country forward and that's exactly what he's done. get this, some of the month in a row of positive month over month job growth, that's the new leadership that our country needed. and now it's up to us, and now it is up to us. we must build upon president obama's legacy or surely we will backslide into a very bad detour what am i talking about? forget about a hidden agenda. the republican candidates for president openly promised to take us backwards. they will undo every single thing that we have accomplished in these last a difficult years. i look at their field of candidates and i shake my head. i would like to say donald trump

is the most outrageous and unqualified person ever to run for president but really, that's not fair to ted cruz. [applause] nevada democrats we must win this election and they must fight for the future of our country depends on it. [applause] because those guys can have their fears and those guys can have their anger but i know there was more that unites us than divides us and there's nothing so divided about our nation's politics the new leadership and our love for one another cannot heal. this is what we can agree on. no american family who works harder plays by the rules should ever have to raise their children in poverty. [applause] but unfortunately some

billionaires would disagree with that. donald trump has said and i quote wages are too high. american wages are too high? i will tell you what donald, i will tell you what's too high, college tuition and the united states of america is too high. the cost of childcare, that's too high. the number of americans living in poverty is too high. donald trump opinion of himself, that's too high. [applause] now know, donald trump, donald trump, donald trump. actually donald wages in america are too low. the hard truth of our times my fellow democrats is we need to own if we are going to win this general election is this.

this is the hard truth we need to own and we need to acknowledge in order to fix fixt and have credibility with our neighbors. today because of bad trickle down choices of the last 30 years before president obama 70% of us are earning the same or less than they were 12 years ago and that's the first time that has happened on the side of world war ii. it's not the way her country is supposed to work. that's not the way our economy is supposed to work. yes, we have come a long way over these last eight years but we have urgent work to do and while this eagle flies best when both his left and right wings are actually working the truth of our time is only the democratic party the party of roosevelt the party of kennedy, the party of barack obama will make our economy work again and make wages go up for all americans. the formula of our success is

that in every generation we square shoulders to the challenges. we make our country strong and we take actions, not words but actions to include more people more fully in the economic social and political life of our nation. therefore with the leadership we must raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour however we can and wherever we can. [applause] pay overtime pay for overtime work and make it easier for people to join labor unions and bargain collectively for better wages for all of us. [applause] equal pay for equal work for men and women and paid family leave in the united states of america. these are the choices that move us forward. and instead of scrapping or privatizing social security i have put forward a plan to actually expand social security

and increase average payouts to americans and social security. we wanted get wages to go up rather than down? then let us do with her grandparents and her parents did before us. let's get 11 million of our neighbors out of the show underground shadow economy by a passing conference of immigration reform at the pathway to citizenship for all. [applause] these are among the strategic goals i put forward in the course of this campaign for moving our country forward in the difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline something i've also learned as a mayor and governor the governor. i put forward a plan now to move us to make debt-free college a reality within next five years. it was forward a plan and i have the backbone to stand up to the bullies of wall street so wall

street can never wreck made sure to come and what does it mean? that means reinstituting a modern version of glass-steagall and doing it today. [applause] making national service a universal option for every american kid eradicating childhood hunger in the next five years. these are the ambitions that are worthy of the great people and another one of those goals is to cut in half the number of americans who die from guns and gun violence in the united states. [applause] a few days ago, a few days ago president obama stood by people who have been devastated and shattered by gunfire and that he spoke to the nation. he spoke to all of us as people. what did he offer? he offered his reason and compassion and common sense to

stem the scourge of gun deaths. the president's executive actions will expand background checks, something by the way which is supported by nine out of 10 americans, nine out of 10 democrats, nine out of 10 independents and nine out of 10 republicans. and what was the sickening response by ted cruz? ted cruz responded with a doctored photo depicting our president as the naziesque show with -- soldier coming for america's guns. have you no shame ted cruz? have you no shame? ted cruz actually said that the answer to gun violence is more guns. senator the answer to cancer is not more cancer. the answer to poverty is not more poverty and the answer to gun violence isn't more guns.

[applause] in my own state after the slaughter of those innocent kids in that classroom in connecticut i brought her people together to pass comprehensive gun safety legislation including a ban on combat assault weapons and you know what? we didn't interrupt a single hunters hunting privileges or hunting licenses. in fact i have never met a self-respecting hunter who needed an ar-15 to down a dear, have you? [applause] with new leadership in washington we can save american lives. universal background checks holding gunmakers and gun sellers responsible when they are -- when they armed criminals because one american life is worth more than all of the gun sales in america. another keep part of our success

as americans is we don't run from our challenges, we don't hide from them, we face them square on. climate change is the greatest business opportunity to come to the ic to 100 years the money to make this opportunity hours. i am the first candidate for president and let us not hope the last to put forward a plan to move america to a 100% clean electric energy grid by 2050 and create 5 million jobs along the way. [applause] and make no mistake about it a clean energy future is the future with more jobs and more prosperity, not less and yet here in nevada, here in nevada that cleaner more prosperous energy that's under attack, you guys have made such tremendous strides. you have made your statement

number one and solar power but now look what has happened. instead of celebrating that accomplishment and building on it and showing the way forward your public utilities commission has proposed outrageous new fees on everyone with a solar panel. get this, homeowners, schools with solar panels creating clean green energy will now an effect be paying to subsidize coal-fired plants. after creating thousands of jobs and solar panels sales and installations get this, solar city has closed up shop here in nevada. this day was trying to sabotage solar energy. we can afford to sabotage our children's future and a longer. we did not land a man on the mend but then all-of-the-above strategy. it was an engineering strategy and so too is the imperative of america's clean energy future.

we are the most innovative nation of problem solvers the world has ever seen and with new leadership we can rise to this challenge of our time and make a clean energy future americans opportunity for a new future. don't you agree? [applause] because our diversity is our strength, and we are a nation of nations, america is made stronger in every generation by the arrival of new american immigrants. my own great grandparents were immigrants. half of them german half of them irish are their first language might have been english but the hopes and dreams they have three kids and grandkids were purely american. today in our country there are voices in politics today, loud forces with division, voices of

fear, voices who would question our common humanity, demagoguery's who incite hate and try to pit us against one another. i have news for them. babies do not come shaped as anchors and there's no such thing as an illegal person. we are all in this together. [applause] we are all in this together and almost all of our people have come here over land, overseas to come to our country. we are a nation of immigrants, guests and we wouldn't be a nation otherwise and i will tell you this, if you ever want to talk to someone who believes in america and believes in the american dream, talk to a new american immigrant who has wristed off to come here. [applause]

but it's going to take new leadership to break 35 years of gridlock in washington on this issue. this is not merely a constituent issue. this is an issue about who we are as a people, they sort of economy would build and country would give her children and with new leadership in washington we can provide immediate relief to the millions of the american dreams of new americans whose hopes and dreams have been -- time and time again because of deadlock in congress. it is a national disgrace, a national disgrace that we now is a nation maintain the largest system of immigrant detention camps of any nation on the planet and with new leadership we must shut them down. [applause] and we must also shred those government contracts for for-profit prisons, a shameful policy in our country. [applause]

in the last few days, over christmas immigration officials launched here in our own nation nationwide deportation regulations at christmas. jesus himself was a refugee child fleeing death gangs at christmas. these nationwide deportation regulations are not terrorizing hundreds of families waking them up at dawn. some of the deportees as young as four years old. and sending them back to the hands of death camps. this is not consistent with who we are as a nation. [applause]

we don't make america stronger at breaking families up. we need to stop ripping families apart and once and for all put an end to the mindless deportation policies. the answer is not to deport mothers and children who walks thousands of miles to ask the people of the united states for refuge. the answers to join in a new alliance for american progress here in our own hemisphere to push back against the drug traffickers and those who would seek to destabilize and terrorize whole nations of central america. the answer is for us to extend protected status to those who have fled from guatemala and honduras and el salvador. this is in keeping with our character as a nation. we must show with actions, not words that we will lead our hemisphere by the actions we take here, actions of compassion and humanity in the way we confront terror and the ongoing threat of willful terror and our

homeland is not by surrendering former american freedoms and american values but by actually holding true to them. the violent genocide leaders known as isis must be confronted and destroyed. we must lead this effort and we must lead by building a broad coalition. the u.n. security council unanimously should have called for member states to redouble action against iselin take all necessary measures. the united states must take the lead in making the security council resolution real, to lead a concerted effort to destroy the operation of compact -- capacity vices. governors have -- not by scapegoating americans were pitting us against one another but they bring us together and that's what we must do today. real leadership always triumphs over fear and even though donald trump tells the nation that he would and american muslims from

travel and entering our country we know that path does not lead to the future of our country. he says we should be monitoring religious services and we should start some sort of registry, some sort of registry of american citizens based on their faith. beginning first with american muslims. who's next? catholics? trade e. nunes? artis? donald trump when you launch your registry of americans who oppose your fascist ideas, you can start with me. [applause] for this much i know, we will never surrender what it means to be an american on the heels of demagogues like donald trump, will we? the enduring symbol of our nation is not a barb wired fence, is the statue of liberty

and we need to act like that. [applause] it is my friends and this ear decision that data has a historical role to play in crafting the outcome of this race. nevada has a role to play and bending the arc of history forward. sometimes there are people who say to me governor o'malley you have a tough fight. you know what? i kind of like a tough fight. i have always been drawn to tough fights. i didn't run for mayor of baltimore because things were going great in our city in 1999. i didn't leave my state through these last eight years in easy economic times but i fought to save every house and every job i could and for those who sometimes say to me you face a tough fight on the fact that mnsa you know what a lot of

people say you face a tough fight to being able to give your children and grandchildren better future than what your parents gave to you. i think the toughness of the fight might be the way that -- are telling us we are fighting for something worth saving. our children's futures were saving. the american dream is worth saving. our country is worth saving and this planet is worth saving. that is why i am running for president of the united states. i need your help and i'm asking you to choose new leadership to move our country forward. may god bless but people of nevada and may god bless the people of united america and our journey forward together. thank you all very, very much. [applause] ♪ ♪

♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you. [applause] thank you very much. thank you. [applause] let me begin, let me begin. [applause] let me begin by thanking all of

you in this room for your patriotism, for your love of your country. you are doing what few to -- too few americans are doing and that is standing up and fighting and getting involved in the political process. thank you all. [applause] and let me say, let me give a special thanks to my dear friend harry reid and his wife for their decades and decades of service to nevada and to the people of our country. harry, thank you so much. [applause] and let me just say i just heard from secretary clinton and governor o'malley this country

has come a long way in seven years and is, long way because of the leadership of president obama and vice president biden but also because of the leadership of harry reid. thank you harry. [applause] we have come a long way since george w. bush left office. [applause] when bush left office, 800,000 people a month were losing their jobs. we had a $1.4 trillion deficit and oh yes, the world's financial system was on the verge of collapse. our republican friends, and we shouldn't be too hard on them.

they suffer from illness called amnesia. [applause] they seem to have forgotten the conditions that they left this country in, but we are not going to allow the american people to forget that. [applause] we have made real progress and we should be proud of what we have accomplished. but, and here's the big but. we still have a very, very long way to go to create the kind of country we know we deserve. [applause] yet, yet unemployment has gone down, but real unemployment

today, counting those who have given up work and working part time rose 10%. youth unemployment is off the charts. we have got to put the american people back to work and that's why i am fighting for a trillion dollar infrastructure program to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our airports and put 13 million people back to work. [applause] today in america, let's be clear , the federal minimum wage

is a starvation wage. people in nevada, people in vermont, people all over this country are working two or three jobs to try to pay the bills. it is not a radical idea to say that somebody who works 40 hours a week should not live in poverty. we need to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. [applause] today in america, today in america, millions of seniors, millions of senior citizens and disabled veterans are trying to get high on 12o