military people. where there was a 26-year-old young man that cancer and his dream was to see star wars and to meet donald trump. a lot of timepent with him. i see the things that he does out.ly to help people he's a very giving person. person.onderful i've had some opportunities to meet his family members, his family members are very down to earth. measurement asa a father how your kids are. he's a wonderful warm person. which the people and certainly the media doesn't portray that. he's someone that's lot different than when he's on stage. guest is brad zaun

from iowa. he's an iowa state senator and the donaldort of trump campaign in iowa. it you want to ask questions about the campaign there, why he issuess donald trump and relating to that, here's how you guest.k to our 202-748-8000 for democrats, for reps,01 independents.or first call is for you senator carolina on our independent line. you're on with our guest. ahead. caller: thank you. i want top first initiate the conversation with a lifelong republican until 2008 when i turned independent and more often than not, this year. i'm so tired of electing people who go to washington with promises from me to represent me failhen get up there and miserably.

this year going to go with something different like donald trump. is how thees me intelligences up there in washington takes his common make fun of him. he's a builder. he's a success. uses common language like building. huge they do it. build me a strong wall. and they do it. build me a strong security department. they do it. that's not hard to understand. have to read between the words of donald trump. it, it gets done. i believe when he gets to washington, i really believe he's be our next president. he'll use common speak. to use theve difficult speak, which will trip intelligents up.

guest: well, that was a great trumpcial for the campaign. one thing that i really think word isd at is his golden. i really trust what he says he's going to do. touched on ay nerve in the united states with his -- i think it's more plain talk. certainly conversations that he on the stage, people can relate to. doesn't complicate issues. i think obviously this year is a different year in the iowa caucuses that i've never seen before. look at what's going on with the sanders campaign and the trump. doing the same thing. they're talking more to the common ordinary person. what danny said. host: huntsville, georgia, upocrats line, mike you're

next. amaze: it never seizes to ifthat -- can you imagine brags ofama had the this individual. he's been called arrogant and all that. trump, theys to tod all of these nice words coat him with. last caller talk about him it getsuild me this and done. that's a dictator. as all the trappings of a dictator. yet they didn't see it. it.'re blind to can you imagine barack obama was that way. this country is getting very dangerous for people like me. to me the trump slogan really is make america white again. that's really what the slogan again. whistle.dog when barack obama

became president. he put his trust in john mccain and mitt romney didn't dot job. he's out here to clean up america and get it white again. what he's campaigning about. host: senator zaun, would you like to respond? i like tol, respectfully disagree with mike. travel with mr. trump at most of the campaign rallies. you cannot believe how many minorities, including last night rally.e veterans there's so many minorities there. true.s not i regards to dictator, disagree with that as well. he's a businessman. you have to be a leader. toughve to make decisions. obviously he's been very successful. issay that he's a racist absolutely not true. host: republican line, new york, ahead.go

caller: hi, how you doing. mr. trump is absolutely phenomenal. wayou understand the government works, government is taking the best people out there. it's just like building a building. you want the best contractor to there. you want the best architect to come in there. you get all of these people together for certain different projects that you doing. is exactly the way government works. you get the best people from the come in there. it buys you. to tell you what's right. have to be a smart enough man to know that these people you correctly and to implement what they're saying. barack obama doesn't do that. a few people around him that block him from all the come out there that really know what they're talking about. stop him from understanding what done. be

he has his own vision of the crazy vision.s a and donald trump has a vision of to say, i'm going to bring in the best people. to going to figure out a way straighten this country out, whether it's the budget, whether better military, whatever the case might be. builder is exactly what we need this country. you take the best people, you and you listener to their ideas. you create something terrific. what donald trump will do. host: thank you. mr. zaun? guest: you know the most mostssful public servant, successful business people surround themselves with great people. delegators. you have to trust the people around you. obviously if you're president of the ceo ofstates or a large corporation, you have to youron other people for

success. obviously, the successes that had in the real estate business, he had relied on great people. the campaign trail many times talking about getting the the rightle and place. i just go back to ronald reagan i reallymeone that thought was an incredible president as a younger person. he surrounded himself with great people. every successful company or public servant surrounds themselves with great people. i know that he's going to do that. -- insenator zaun, the washington polk oh post talk -- post talk about donald trump. says, trump has limited concern for the central tenant the american conservatism and of the tea party movement. limited government. to that? you respond guest: well, i wouldn't say i charles.with

we have a lot of tea party of realnd a lot conservatives. i just got stopped in the iowa by aal on this last week pastor that said, listen, kind andooking over senator cruz others. with and wanted to be support donald trump. veryve -- i am a conservative person. i obviously have lots of conversations with mr. trump about where he's at on issues. is aly believe he conservative. quite sure why charles or what information he has. based on my conversation, he the bill. host: you probably saw that ad coming from the ted cruz where it shows donald trump's words from previous conversations including social issues like abortion. to play that ad for you. then talk about donald trump's social position, especially on

issues on life. it.s listen to >> hey, i lived in new york city and manhattan all my life. little bite a different than if i lived in iowa. >> they are different like on abortion. >> would president trump ban abortion? pro-choice. >> what does trump think about iowa? >> how stupid are the people of iowa. >> donald trump new york values, not ours. >> my views are different than iowa.ived in >> i'm ted cruz, i approve this message. host: senator zaun, donald trump said he's pro-life now. what do you do with those words from the past? guest: well, i can only go with the conversations i've had with him. in iowahat's going on now. there are so many negative ads a candidate are taken out regards to where they're at.

-- it's thenate nature of the beast in politics. i feel very comfortable. become more conservative through time. obviously, i measure someone where they're at today and i of these ads, senator cruz is doing, are taking him out of context. i feel very comfortable about where donald trump is on some of are verys that important to me. thessues are important to economy. host: senator zaun, him,rsations with specifically what have you asked him on these life issues such as abortion. how has he responded? guest: i'm not going to share conversations i had with him. i did ask him about this issue, life issue. he assured me that he was a person. i was satisfied what he said.

is up next in nevada on the independent line. forer: i like to thank you showing the trump event last night c-span. that's what i watched instead of the debate. i figure all of those people are for.y much bought and paid donald trump doesn't have to worry about that. i think he's the man for the job. i'm a veteran, i thought what he did was pretty great deal last night. i think the country is such dire after seven years of barack obama. we need somebody like him to it around. guest: thank you don. excuse me, pedro. you don. i salute your service and thank you for your service to our country. we had an incredible rally last night. $6 million.

they're going to go to local ineran organizations here iowa. which is really awesome. mentioned earlier is that i have a strong military. that doesn't mean going to war but having a strong military. just an example that was president reagan, it's very important to me. what's going on with isis is a huge threat to all the christians in the world and states.y in the united i think that we need to step up. in thisour reputation went o downhill under the obama administration. excited about his candidacy and hopefully future president. host: andre, decatur, georgia, democrats lane. caller: yes. i was just calling to say, if people think donald trump will be a good president, they need

to wake up and educate .hemselves donald trump is not giving specifics on what he'll do with war, the jobs situation situation.lthcare i just think donald trump just onhe's out there going people anger and frustration. he's not going to be a good president. host: senator zaun has donald enough to lay out policy positions in your mind? guest: yes, do i. had some conversations about education.egards to he rolled out a tax plan here. i've been told there's going to plans that will be rolled out. i know you can go on the website. of can find all kinds information there. most importantly, he does a lot of interviews. the tvime you turn on station, he goes into specifics when he's asked. what he's trying to do,

when he talk and communicates doesn't americans, he try to complicate it. he does have details for so many different issues that are to americans out there. i think he's right on >> will have more road to the white house covered from the hawkeye state starting at 8:00 eastern with chris christie holding a town hall meeting. after that, jeb bush in carol. later, ben carson holding a campaign rally in iowa city. wrote to the white house of events tonight starting at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> des moines, iowa broadcasting with c-span. >> god bless the great state of iowa. >> hello, iowa.

>> the republican party of iowa. >> in iowa. >> in iowa. >> so please to do this with friends in iowa today. >> if you told us one year ago we would come in third in iowa, we would give anything for that. >> it's good to be back in iowa. >> people didn't know much about the iowa caucuses. ♪ >> is this an average caucus? >> it's hard to say. it's the third one i've been to. they are all different. >> 18, 19, 20. >> it is good to be back in iowa. >> thank you, iowa. >> you have to show respect for iowans. >> i want to thank the people of iowa. >> i want to thank all the people of iowa. >> kia what is the first.

iowa, i will never speak to you people again. ♪ >> tomorrow on washington journal, iowa state professor steffen schmidt. tim former u.s. senator hutchinson explains why he endorsed marco rubio. after that, another former u.s. discussesom harkin, hillary clinton's campaign and his support. and we will take your phone calls, facebook comments, and tweets live on washington journal tomorrow morning. former this week, maryland governor martin o'malley delivered remarks to voters and took questions at a town hall meeting in iowa. he talked about the syrian refugee crisis, and the economy.

this is an hour and 10 minutes. [applause] you.n o'malley: thank thank you very much. thank you. back at you, iowa. thank you very, very much. i usually talk better when i'm on a chair. can i do that? it also adds an extra degree of entertainment. [laughter] how are you? good. it's good to be here. thank you for coming out. it's caucus time, isn't it? >> d.l.. -- yeah. o'malley: i love this state, its beauty, landscape, warmth.

.f its people the thing i love most about iowa is this. you are not intimidated by big money, polls, pundits. you always have a way of sorting through the noise and on caucus night, lifting up a new leader. that's what you do and you do it well. i'm here not so much to praise you but to challenge you because our country needs a new leader to heal our divisions and bring us together. hitting us against each other, this should tell as we are going to fight for the heart and soul of the united states of america. i will like to say donald trump

is the most outrageous person to run for president but that wouldn't be fair to ted cruz, would it? [applause] martin o'malley: let's talk a bit here and we will get into questions and answers and if you have answers, and hope you raise your hands first. i am on a search for answers. i was born the year president kennedy was killed. is not thece experience of a congressperson or a senator. is that of an executive, a mayor and governor bringing people together, getting things done. my up burning is not the story -- myemocratic conversion upbringing is not the story of a democratic conversion. hi parents taught us to love ourselves, god, our country. the stronger we make our country, the more it can get back to us and our children. they also taught us that the

only thing wrong with politics is not enough good people bother to try. so i have given my life to the cause of pulling us together, getting things done for the cause of a better tomorrow. when i ran for mayor of baltimore, it was at a time when our city had become the most violent, addicted, attended city in america. we had a pretty big divide of race, class, place. we dialed up drug treatment and put our city on a better path and saved a lot of lives. living wage, raised the minimum wage, past marriage equality, the dream act. penalty.ed the death we made our public schools the best in america five years in a row. not by cutting public education but increasing education funding by 37%. [applause]

martin o'malley: we went four years in a row without a penny increase the college tuition. [applause] : what does that have to do with the here and now and the big decision you have to make? i believe it has a great deal. the phrases i've heard everywhere i've gone are phrases new leadership and getting things done. fourfe katie and i have terrific kids. my oldest daughter is 24. she is a first grade teacher in the heart of baltimore city. when she returned to her classroom, 100 adorable african-american students ready to learn, you little girl talk her on the sleeve and said i'm not so sure about this idea of your father running for president because i kind of like barack obama. [laughter]

martin o'malley: a lot of us like barack obama, right? [applause] martin o'malley: and we must build on the good things he has done. eight years ago when our country was this close to being plunged pointedepression, iowa the way forward. you lifted up a new leader and now our nation, our country is doing better because we are creating jobs again. the last two years of job growth have been the best two years we have had since the 1990's. that means our country is doing better but here's the tough truth and what we need to own it for going to continue to build upon his good work and it is this -- and majority of this for the first time since world war ii, 70% of us are earning the same today we were 12 years ago and that's not the way our economy is supposed to work, our country is supposed to work.

we have a work to do. the poet laureate of the american dream, bruce "is asteen, once asked dream alive if it don't come true or is it something worse?" you and i are part of a living, self creating mystery called the united states of america. the promise at the heart of that is wherever you start in our country, you should be able to get ahead and that is what we need to restore in our nation, the truth of that american dream and the good news is we know how to do it. because we did it all the time. put into actions motions in every generations to include more people more fully in the economic, social life of our country that aren't us the title of the land of opportunity and allowed us to give our kids future. weperous

must first return to our true selves and remember that our economy is not money, it's people. it's all of our people. therefore, we must restore the common sense labor policies that up for all to go americans, that strengthen our middle class and allow people to work their way out of poverty. abuddy who works hard for living should have to raise their children in poverty. for 40 years, we've always kept the minimum wage above the poverty line for a family of two and that's what we need to do again. pay overtime pay for overtime work and make good on the promise for equal pay for equal work. we need to make it easier and not harder for people to join labor unions and bargain collectively for labor unions.

let's get 11 million neighbors out of the shadow economy by passing comprehensive reform with a pathway to citizenship for all martin o'malley: instead of cutting social security like the republican candidates for president want to do, i say we expand social security and pay for it by scrapping the cap of incomes over $250,000. look, when -- [applause] martin o'malley: when 70% of the economic growth is consumer demand, we can't expect to have healthy growth unless workers are earning more money. we invest in things that pay over the generations. research and development, infrastructure, transportation infrastructure. and another one, the talents, the skill levels, the education levels of our people.

at every generation we understand our economy is constantly changing and therefore we must educate our workers and people at higher and better levels. i have put forward a plan to move to us debt free college in the next five years as an option again for every american family. [applause] my dad went to a college on a g.i. bill. my daughters went to college on a mountain of bills. [laughter] it doesn't need to be like this. we are the only generation, only country that's saddling our graduating generation was a -- with a mountain of debt. john kennedy said the government is to choose. we need to make better choices. it wasn't that long ago. finally, let me talk about the great challenges of our times and they are many. the changing nature of conflict in this world. the threat of asymmetrical warfare abroad and here in the homeland. it calls forth from us a new sort of foreign policy of

engagement and collaboration. a new national security strategy that is more farseeing and anticipatory. identifies threats before they back us into a military corner. and acts with new alliances to reduce those threats. and there is another great challenge we face as well. and that is the challenge of climate change. the greatest business opportunity to come to the united states of america in 100 years. and look, iowa, how you are pointing the way forward here as well. 30%, 35% of your electricity now comes from clean iowa wind. [applause] martin o'malley: the great thing about those big component parts you see rumbling down i-80, is most those parts are too damn big to import them from abroad. you're manufacturing them here employing 5,000 people. i am the first candidate for

president, let's hope not the last, to put forward a plan to move us, to a 100% clean electric grid by 2050 and create five million american jobs along the way. [applause] martin o'malley: so, my fellow americans, these are the ambitions that are worthy of a truly great people. these are among the 15 strategic goals that i have laid out to move our country forward. make no mistake about it, a new foreign policy, new national security, those things depend on are making ourselves stronger here at home. eradicating childhood hunger in the next five years. creating -- making national service a universal option for every kid in the united states to be able to give back to their country and earn additional credits and dollars for college. cutting deaths from guns in half in the next 10 years. cutting deaths from overdose in

half in the next 10 years. as an executive i learned the difference between a dream and goal, is the deadline. is the deadline. is the deadline. we can do some remarkable things as a nation if we work together towards intentional goals. goals that serve. goals that rebuild the truth of the american dream that we share. that strengthens and acts upon the deep belief we have in the dignity of every person in our country. the truth that each one of us is needed and that we have to help each other if we are going to succeed. there's a lot of people who say to me, governor you face a tough fight. what i say back to them is, we are all facing a tough fight right now. this is a tough fight. in this changing world is the challenges we face to give our kids a future with more opportunity rather than less? yes, that's a tough fight. and we are up to it. you and i are up to it.

i have always been drawn to a tough fight. i didn't run for mayor of baltimore in 1999 because things were going well. and i didn't leave my state through easy times, i led my state through tough times. i believe that the toughness of the fight is the way the hidden god has in telling us we are actually fighting for something worth saving. our children's future is worth saving. our country is worth saving. this planet is worth saving. and i have never bet against the goodness, kindness, and compassion of the people of the united states of america. if you ever have any doubts about where our nation's headed, i urge you to do as i do and talk to her young people under 30 because you rarely find them young americans that deny that climate change is real. you rarely find among them young americans that want to slam america's door in the face of refugees fleeing genocide or bash new american immigrants or

young americans that want to deny rights to gay couples. what does all of this tell us? this tells us we are moving to a much more compassionate, much more generous, and much more connected place. we are standing on the threshold of a new era of american progress, and there is nothing so divided about our nation's politics that it cannot be healed. with a renewed faith in one another and new leadership. and that's what i challenge you to do, iowa. in seven days. lift up new leadership, lift me up over expectations and change the dynamic of this race so we can move our country forward. so we can build upon the good things the president obama has accomplished and give our kids the better future they deserve. thanks very, very much. [applause] now the fun part, "q&a." if you think about your questions and i look around the room, i am reminded of a story i think greatly sums up the iowa

caucuses and the intimate way all of you have of actually meeting each of us two, three, four, five, six, seven times, right? i was in fairfield the other day and a woman said, governor o'malley, this is my third time seeing you. i said how am i doing? she said you're doing very well. i'm seeing lots of growth. i said does-s that how you and your husband vote? she says as a matter of fact we see as many of you as many as we can, and whoever grows the most by caucus night that's who we vote fore. growth is a good thing. >> i'll be caucusing in seven days -- >> thank you, nick. >> first thing i did because when i was -- listening to candidates this summer. like you said i went to lots of different events to see different people.

you came out ahead of secretary clinton and far ahead of senator sanders, you said america is -- we need to be willing to accept far more than we are now. and showed real humanity and america's ideals and history of accepting in refugees. on that note i just wanted to ask you, in the role of president what other things would you do as far as addressing genocide that happened in the democratic republic of congo, or myanmar. the work of human atrocities, how can america be better? governor o'malley: the second we close america's door in the face of refugee families fleeing genocide is the second we stop being americans. this is essential aspect of who

we are in this world and why we have credibility in this world. so i believe that there's a new concept emerging in this world of the global commons. and that all like-minded people around the world have a responsibility to be better at identifying threats as they are rising, work an alliance to reduce them and prevent safe havens from growing up for global terror activities. it's going to require new regional alliances. and all of those places that you mentioned, we can play a role and we should play a role, but governors have led us to victory in two world wars, not my going

it alone, but by building coalitions and alliances in ways that are respectful and incorporating of other people and the cultures and best strengths of those regions. i think you see some of the seeds of this in the african union nations pushing back, you see it more countries taking on a role to keep the sea lanes opened. we are moving to a much more relational sort of foreign policy that is no longer the old cold war bipolar. you are either on the soviet's team or on ours. instead this is a much more regional approach to maintaining the good order of the global commons. and that's what we need to do to defeat isil. but it's also what we need to do here in our own hemisphere. we need a new alliance for progress here in the americas. you don't have to go to the middle east to find failing nation states. you can't find them in central america. we need to do a better job of bringing up a whole of government approach, diplomacy,

and yes, as president, i plan to dial up sustainable development and make the director at usaid a direct report to the president of the united states. [applause] >> as president what you would do to help alleviate the federal judicial emergency crisis? governor o'malley: the federal judicial emergency crisis. by that you are talking about the long period of time it takes to appoint federal judges? >> correct. governor o'malley: i'm going to come off my stool for this. look, we are facing a time of some pretty profound divisions in our country and in our politics. and you know what the most recurring question is i get all across your state right now? it's the question how are you going to heal these divisions? how are you going to work with this congress? there's a sinking sense out there that somehow our divisions have become greater than we are. and the most important work at this time. what i suggest to people when they ask questions like these is, for your decision on caucus

night, a way to think about it which of the three of us running for the democratic nomination has the best chance of healing these divisions? you see all my life i have not been a divider. i have brought people together to get things done. if i weren't that way, i wouldn't have accomplished the results that i have. i don't consider all republicans to be my enemies. i hope you don't, either. republicans aren't our enemies. they are our colleagues, our friends, they are our -- [applause] governor o'malley: they are our uncles, right? on all of these things as governor what i also learned was that, that your job is to get to know the members of the republican party and the democratic party. people of your own party and people of the opposite party. took us three times to pass marriage equality. the only way we got it done was with some republican votes. took us three times to repeal

the death penalty. only because of some republican votes. there is a different combination every time. we used to do bipartisan pizza night at government house. the governor's mansion. i figure the reason they give you the free food and big house is to have people over. so this is how you reinforce the strength of those soft ties. on the federal judicial emergency. we have to make the appointments in a timely way. we have to hope that because of the election and the reset button here, that is every election, we can start healing what's tearing us apart and making us dysfunctional. i'm willing to throw my energy into that. >> my question is, as governor of maryland, you signed into law a driver's license law that extended license to all immigrants regardless of status. there's a similar law here in iowa that's been stagnant for a long time and community leaders are really trying to drive it forward and build it up. i was hoping maybe you could talk a little bit why i supported that in maryland and

how that factors into president o'malley's immigration reform policy? governor o'malley: questions about new american immigrants and driver's licenses for them who are not documented citizens. we passed this in my state. it took a while. had to go over a couple of successive administrations. but we got it done. it seemed to us that it made absolutely no sense to make it impossible for people to legally drive to and from work and to get insurance to cover themselves in case god, forbid, they were in an accident, or with you and your family, if they hit your car. we passed that. i'll tell you part of the reason we were able not only to pass driver's licenses, but we were

also able to pass the dream act in maryland, and then defend it at the ballot. it was losing by the way 55-45, we turned that around and won with 58% of the vote. the reason why we were also able to take care of more central american refugee kids per capita than any other state in the union is partly because of the language that we used and ethic we called for. i always used the term new americans. i believe our country is made better in every generation by the arrival of new american immigrants. my own people -- [applause] governor o'malley: my own people, half of them were irish, half were germans. which means i like to give orders and not take them. but in every generation new american immigrants make us stronger and better as a country. we are selling ourselves short by not having comprehensive immigration reform. expectations become behavior.

these 11 million people aren't going to be put on noah's arc and sent someplace. many have children who were born here. i remember visiting with the family and two of their kids were covered by the president's executive action. their youngest daughter was born here in the united states. so she's american citizen. but the parents are not yet documented. and aren't covered by any executive order. that little girl goes to school every single day, works in class all day, with the fear that when she comes home that door's going to be busted open and her parents are going to be gone. so we need to bring great balance and sanity. we have a mindless deportation policy breaking up families for no good reason. we maintain now the largest system of immigrant detention camps of any developed nation in the world. and many of them are proliferating on a for-profit basis. this is not who we are. the enduring symbol of our country is not the barbed wire fence, it's the statue of liberty. [applause] governor o'malley: yes. >> i'm curious, you mentioned you wanted to invest, one of your plans to help with the debt. how else do you plan to combat the $18 trillion and rising debt? governor o'malley: great question, the debt.

there is no long lasting progress without fiscal responsibility. of the three of us running for the democratic party's nomination, i'm the only one that's balanced the budget every year for the last 15 years. that was hard to do in a shrinking city with a shrinking tax base now growing. we even got our bond rating upgraded during that time. i depended a triple-a bond rating all the way through the recession. one of only seven states to do that. made more cuts than any governor in maryland history. but we still managed to increase the investments in the things that make our economy grow and make wages go up. how did we do it? in a word -- math. i believe in science and i believe in math. [applause] governor o'malley: so the primary reason for our national debt, even as president obama has greatly reduced the annual deficit spending, which ultimately adds to the debt, but

the rate of annual deficit spending under president obama has been greatly reduced to its smallest levels in a couple decades, i do believe. but that debt was primarily driven by the fact that we were led falsely into war in iraq and it was really, really costly. in lives, in blood, in dollars. and that's what ballooned our debt. and then the unchecked greed on wall street -- by the way, i am in favor of reinstituting a modern version of glass-steagall to protect our main street economy. [applause] governor o'malley: from wall street excesses, but then the recession hit and that added to it more. we have to grow our economy in order to bring down our debt in a timely way. and we also have to do one other thing. i believe that we need to expand social security, yes. but i also believe that there is one entitlement we can no longer afford as a nation. and that is the entitlement that some of our super wealthiest citizens, those making more than $1 million, feel that they are

entitled to pay in perpetuity a much lower effective tax rate than america's middle class pays. if we simply raise the marginal income tax rate from its 39 to 45, by the way it was 70 during president reagan's first term, if we raise the marginal rate from 39 to 45 and tax for the most part capital gains at the same rate that we do income from hard work and sweat and toil, that would generate conservatively, $700 billion to $800 billion over the next 10 years. that would go a long way to doing a lot of things. that would go a long way to financing debt-free college again. it would go a long way to cleaner, greener energy future. and a long way to paying down in a timely fashion this national debt. that's what i -- how i see it. >> i asked you about the racial profiling of muslim americans as a result of the u.s. patriot act. what specific policies would you enact as president to reduce racial profiling of minorities.

governor o'malley: i think one of the things i have learned about all of these things is that no agencies of our government face a greater imperative to act in open and transparent ways that law enforcement does. and given the modern information age, i think all of law enforcement is struggling to get ahead of the wave on this. i believe that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to bert coordinating and sharing information -- better coordinating and sharing information. i also believe that the first line of defense against these sort of lone wolf attacks is our nation's ethic itself to be very engaged with our neighbors. when donald trump made his comment about wanting to issue i.d. cards for people based on their faith, all american muslims, i

said to my staff, get me to the biggest mosque you can as soon as you can. they didn't disappoint. flew me on a red eye from california. but i walked in to a whole group of really patriotic men and women. i never thought i'd see the look in their eyes in our country that i saw. it was a sense of almost political dread the way they are being targeted and being scapegoated by that sort of rhetoric. we can't allow that to happen. it's not just about our president. it's about all of us. as citizens. i said then and say now, if donald trump wants to start a registry of people that disagree with his fascist proposals and rhetoric, he can start with me. i think that all of us need to step up. [applause] >> my name is vicky. i'm glad she asked that question.

because it's not just the muslims -- don't fear the muslims that are here. i fear people like the k.k.k., the people that -- what were they called? the people that call themselves patriots. i have heard some of the commercials the political ad, we want to bring america back like it used to be. well, i didn't like the way it used to be. [applause] >> in my neighborhood in des moines, iowa, we had blacks and whites. we had a german family. we all got along. but i was living in des moines, iowa. but there were people at that same time, maybe i was 8 years old, they were getting lynched. at the same time those who were trying to get -- legalized voting for all american citizens, they were getting killed. the k.k.k. is something that we should

fear. maybe not all you guys, but people that look like me. i don't fear the police. because if they tell me to stop, i'm going to stop. but of course i live, again, in des moines, iowa. my point is, when we think about domestic terrorists, we have to include people that look like you, i'm not calling you a terrorist, of course, because i'm going for you. governor o'malley: good woman, thank you. >> i was like, oh, do -- i knew what person i wasn't going for. and that was a given. but it's like, oh, mr. sanders seems like a nice guy. what do you think about this mr. o'malley? yeah, i'm glad you're running. we need someone with some common sense. we need someone who is going to

do everything i heard that -- how did you get college -- was it free college or something? governor o'malley: we went four years in a row without a penny's increase in college tuition. and our public schools number one in the row five years in a row. we had to do both, and. we had to make tough budgetary decisions. we treated our teachers like professionals. people worthy of our dignity and respect and they didn't disappoint. all of these things required a collaborative approach. bringing people together. not dividing people. not declaring whole groups of people our enemies. your question, i was in the church basement there, mother emanuel church in charleston, probably a year before pastor pinckney had a meeting there. you never hear that young man that created that massacre referred to as a christian

terrorist, do you? there's nothing christian about that. there are acts of terror in this world. there are acts of murder. there are criminal acts. it is sadly the nature of our human condition. do i believe as i think the call of your question says, the longer arc of american history is the greater respect for the lives and dignity and differences of all. and that's our story. that's what we do when we do it best. >> i think the fact they are called christians. you are not christians. i am church of christ. i am a christian. i will never kill anyone. if i don't agree -- i don't agree with abortion, i'm not going to stand in the way. if you ask me, i'll stay say something. but i won't stand in your way. if you want to get married, two

people of the same want to get married, i'm not going to stand in your way. my point on that is, if you're really a christian, you're not going to kill and you're not going to shout in people's face. you're not going to do those things. governor o'malley: amen. yes, sir. >> i'm bob, your website has 15 goals. all have detailed sub sets. tell me more about social security. that's why i'm here today about your implementing that to make that stronger for people like me. governor o'malley: i believe social security is one of the greatest programs we ever created as a country. the truth that no person should ever have to work their whole life and retire into poverty. that's what social security represents. yet like so many other things this is a year when we are not even raising the benefit for social security. under some who say -- who want to kill social security because

they don't like government programs that actually work well. but i have a entrepreneurial mayoral approach. if we find things that work and work well, we should do more of them. as we face this sort of cliff for a lot of people retiring but fewer savings and pensions than before, this is the wrong time to undercut that third leg of the stool of social security. i put forward a plan to expand social security, to increase average benefits by $65, and create a child -- caregiver credit within it so that we don't disproportionately penalize women who more often than men come out of the work force to take care of family members or children. that's what i propose to do. actually increase benefits even more for people at the lowest earning rung of the ladder. yes, sir. >> you mentioned a plan for college. what does that entail and how does that relate -- governor o'malley: let me talk about the elements of this plan. this falls under the category of

something i have actually done. state government, institutions of higher learning, and federal government. the reason why tuitions have gone up so much is that what your federal government and state governments have done for higher education has been greatly cut over the recent years. this is especially true in public universities. there is a definite correlation. you look at states like arizona that greatly cut higher education funding and you see that is where the tuition increased the greatest. the opposite on the other end of the spectrum was maryland. my plan calls for a few leading actions. here they are. we need to invest more as a nation pell grants and create a block grant program that states receive so they are incentivized to keep some skin in the game and not cut their own investments in higher education. we need to set a national goal that the price of college tuition at a four-year university should not be more than 10% of a state's median income and the cost of a

community college two-year degree should not be more than 5% of your state's median income. [applause] we need to -- we need to enroll all of our graduates automatically in an income-based repayment plan. opt out if you like but an income-based repayment plan so that you're not suffering under this mountain of debt the second they hand you a diploma. we need to lower the interest rates, which in many cases for those parent-plus loans, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, no person ever before you running for president of the united states with a greater load of college debt over his and his wife's head than i do. this is an historic moment. [laughter] but the 7% and 8% loans that we're paying to our own federal government, we need to make it possible for families to refinance those and we also -- i believe need to make national service a universal option so that more kids can earn an enhanced pell grant credit even as they are giving back to their country. [applause] and i also think -- i'm also proposing that in moving to the next education reform, like universal pre-k, using technology to reinfuse the

learning experience with music and art and science and experiencal learning and conceptual thinking, we also need to redesign high school and especially that fourth year of high school so when our kids graduate they not only have a certificate and skill in demand today's economy but a diploma that means something and a year or half year of transferable college credit that can be recognized when they go on to seek their two or four-year degree. those are some of the components of it. with all of this, we need to -- we need to make the goal degree completion. not how long you can keep kids in seats. we have been paying for higher education almost like a hotel. the longer you fit -- the more bed nights you fill up for a longer period of time, the more profitable the hotel at the center of the equation. the center of the equation needs to be people. people seeking to achieve

degrees so they can have skills , so they can contribute to our country r and be able to provide for their families. we need to make this about degree attainment and offer alternative pathways for returning learners so they can move ahead when ready. demonstrate competence and learn online and do it in a flexible way. that's what i see. yes, sir? >> regarding your foreign policy on international conflict -- [inaudible] boots on the ground or if you don't, would you change our -- governor o'malley: sorry, would you repeat the last part? would you change our current policy? governor o'malley: look, we always need to be looking at our policies. our policy should never be cut in stone. we need to be fluid. we need to be adaptive. we are facing the sort of enemy that is not a big army division in the field like the nation

state conflict era. we're facing a very adaptive sort of threat. we need to be even more quickly adapting. to that end, we need to make increasingly more judicious use of drone strikes. i do not agree with some of the republican party who used the most bellicose language they can find as if they're trying to look tough, turning the sands, making the sands glow, carpet bombing and all of that hooey that makes them beat their chests and look tough. that's not what's going to win this conflict. we have to work with special ops, technical support, close air support. what we need more than anything else in that region and every troubled region is far better human intelligence because when we exercise these formidable powers of our military, of our drones, of our technology and we do it in a way that is contrary to our first principles, we hurt

our effort. we make it possible for our opponents to increase their recruitment and that's not the goal here. we need to defeat, but we need to defeat in a smart way in coalition with others interrupting propaganda and interrupting finances. it's a matter of using several different tools. it's not a matter of carpet bombing and creating more enemies. yes, ma'am? >> yes, my name is kathy. i'm from west des moines. my question is about mental health issues. what is your stand about the prisoners -- not the prisoners -- soldiers coming back from war and having so many mental health issues as well as just our everyday citizen that might be in that category of needing extra help? governor o'malley: one of the

strategic goals i have set for our country is full employment for america's veterans when they return. it's a finite number of them and we do an absolutely miserable job helping them transition back to civilian life. absolutely no handoff between the department of defense and the department of veteran affairs let alone your own state department's veteran affairs who often co-locate veteran counselors in the one-stop centers for employment development. and those sorts of things. i found in our own state our best shot of making sure our returning soldiers do not become ghost people and got connected to the services they need including mental health services is to approach them through portal of employment. what is your transition plan coming back? are you aware of the benefits and the things that are available to you that can help you get that job and help you transition back? the dd-214, the discharge form

they fill out and the -- when you leave the service, it doesn't even have a block on it for an email address. it has phone. it has home address and oftentimes our men and women put their parents and then when they come home, those become obsolete. so mental health is critically important. let me shift a little bit to your mental health question. we leave mental health decisions and the resourcing of mental health too much to our states. it means that oftentimes depending how your governor feels about mental health will determine whether or not your family has access to what your loved ones need. in my own state we increased by 80% access to mental health -- public access to mental health services in my state. you can't treat addiction without also being mindful of mental health. you're not very wise to treat serious health issues without also being aware of the mental health. so we have to work to increase parity with mental health services and again get the states in this game. yes? >> as a future teacher i'm concerned as to where the education system is going in america. you look on lists of comparisons of education, we're number 25 on the list. you might not know that. i don't know if a lot of people know that.

i think we think we're better than we actually are. how do you propose we get back on the right track with education at any grade level? martin o'malley: i found in my own state, we made public schools number one in america for five years in a row. we had a collaborative approach with our teachers and implemented the common core curriculum but in a collaborative way. we drove up the highest numbers of any state in america the kids that take stem-related a.p. courses and actually passed them. and a lot of times teachers are treated with dignity and respect. like the professionals they are, they went out on their own and found the training they needed in order to teach kids at higher and better levels. i see three big opportunities on our horizon. i touched on them briefly before. let me go back in greater detail. there is no better investment that i have seen in public education than early childhood

education. we need to move to universal pre-k as a nation. there are mechanisms there to allow us to do that at the federal level. [applause] secondly, for all of the talk about -- for all of the talk about standards, and there has been a lot of talk about minimum standards, kick to the curb has been what we do best as a nation when we educate our people and that is to teach them how to think conceptually and creatively and collaboratively in a problem-solving mode. i believe with technology today, we have better platforms and better means with what we know about how kids learn individually and a sense of their cognitive abilities and the best way of learning, to use technology to reinvigorate the learning experience with more music, more art. it's almost like whenever we would put a music or art program back in a school, it seemed like that was the first thing to get cut by the principal the next year. music and art is important. experiencal learning. hands on learning. environmental literacy. these are all of the sorts of things that we need to be

dialing up in this age so that our people can collaborate and have the skills they need, and the fourth part of it is our high schools. i really think there is an opportunity to redesign our high schools. early access to college as well as career in technical education for skills that are actually in demand in the today's economy -- in today's economy rather than skills that were in demand in your grandparents' economy. last one. yes, ma'am? go ahead. yep? >> you currently are the only candidate that has a proposal for our cities going forward. what lessons have you learned from the baltimore downtown renaissance and given our time with economic disparity, how could you better distribute those economic gains to poor and minority communities in the city and what would you do as president? governor o'malley: i put forward a plan for a new agenda for america's cities. it has been some 40 years since we had a new agenda for america's cities. way back when we did under jimmy carter that is what brought about in baltimore the famous inner harbor. there were some at the time who hoped with that spark at the center that it would send a ripple throughout the city. we neglected to pay attention to

the very deep structural unemployment, and the human service challenges, to lead poisoning in the generations of kids, to endemic violent crime that we accepted as if it was an inevitable part of living in the poorest sections of our cities. that's just the way it is, 24/7 open air drug markets. so i think what i have learned as mayor is that it is not enough just to do the one thing downtown.

that you have to improve quality of life. you have to make a city safer and you also have to make your city more economically inclusive. it's easier to gentrify than it is to include and investments of inclusion, of economic inclusion are investments that no city by herself can usually make. there are things like mass transit, because the biggest impediment to upward economic mobility is a lack of mobility itself. there are things like affordable housing, affordable work force housing and i also believe that cities could be the cutting edge of this move to a clean, green, redesigned energy grid and built environment and we could -- we could spark and see a whole new generation of netzero homes and -- of leave buildings in the multifamily sense, do the retrofits that we know put people back to work and give people the training and skills they need to do these retrofits for the decades ahead. that is where the great opportunity lies. things like structural unemployment, a widening opportunity gap, these

injustices do not solve themselves. we have to solve them. and it's not simply with the economic investments. you also have to save lives and you have to reform your criminal justice system constantly. look for the things that work and do more of them and when you find things that do not work, stop doing them. i mean, i decriminalized possession of marijuana. i passed bills to ban the box on employment applications for state employment. i restored voting rights to 52,000 people with felony convictions. i drove incarceration rates down to 20-year lows. i repealed the death penalty. those were -- death penalty doesn't work. it can't be racially -- it's never been justly applied and it's not a deterrent. in terms of policing, you have to be open and transparent. you got to report. we should require as a nation

all of our departments to report their discourtesy, things that can be tracked and things that can get done. [applause] we already require them to report their major crimes. so report these of professionalism and courtesy in your police department and we can go a long way to healing the divisions in our country. a long way to saving lives, but it's not an either/or proposition. we have to do both. there is an essential role for our federal government to play in breaking down this structural unemployment that threatens to tear our country apart. look, you guys have been awesome here at simpson. we got seven days to go until the iowa caucuses. thank you for those who agreed to stand up and caucus for me. there was a caucus the other night in east des moines. a mock caucus. they had three delegates to split up. and they split this way. one for clinton. one more sanders and one for o'malley. so hold firm when you go in there on caucus night. make the argument. whenever our countries face times of gridlock and stalemate and it seems like our divisions

are getting the best of us, we lift up a new leader to bring us through that. that's what we need to do today. our best days are still in front of us. in iowa, the fate of my candidacy is totally in your hands. do with it as you will. but i promise you this, if we beat expectations and you lift up new leadership, i will not let you down. i'm in this to win this and move our country forward. thanks very, very much. [applause] thank you. ok. one more request. do you really want to hear a song or do you want to go home? [applause] this is the proverbial guitar that came out of nowhere that nobody saw coming. here it is. we'll do a sing-along one, all

right? is there a pick? does anyone have a pick? oh, i see it. thank you. ok. >> i think your mic's off. governor o'malley: my mic's off? here it is. green means go. used to be in a band. here we go. here is the chorus. here's the chorus. iowa, iowa winter, spring, summer or fall come see come dance with me to the beautiful iowa wall are you ready? we'll try it one more time for

practice. iowa, iowa, winter, spring, summer or fall come see come dance with me at the beautiful iowa wall very good. we take care of our own we take care of our young sewing our crops singing our songs waiting until harvest time whoa, whoa, whoa iowa, iowa winter, spring, summer or fall come see come dance with me to the beautiful iowa walls here in the midst of the corn middle of the u.s. of a here's where i was born here's

where i will stay iowa yea winter, spring, summer or fall come see come dance with me to the beautiful iowa wall one more time with spirit! iowa, iowa winter, spring, summer or fall come see come dance with me to the beautiful iowa walls here you go. thanks a lot. thank you, guys. ♪ [applause]

>> i'm from michigan. governor o'malley: where in michigan? >> about a half-hour south of flint. lead poisoning, very disturbing to me. governor o'malley: yeah, that's been awful. >> it's absolutely horrible. governor o'malley: we worked so hard -- we cut lead poisoning in our city about by 90%. do you guys want a picture? >> yes, absolutely. >> thank you so much. governor o'malley: thank you. thanks a lot. >> great to meet you. >> hi, there.

governor o'malley: good? thanks, man. thank you. good to be back. good to be back. hey, thank you. what's your name? >> laura. governor o'malley: laura. >> bill. governor o'malley: laura and bill. hope you'll caucus for me. >> we will. governor o'malley: catch me a delegate or two. >> we will. >> named andrew and we're with a group. we're integration reform advocacy group. governor o'malley: oh, good. >> trevor. governor o'malley: he's a good guy. >> thank you. thank you everything you said today as well. governor o'malley: sure. i'm going to continue to speak fearlessly. >> former high school and college teacher. governor o'malley: oh, cool. well, thanks for what you do. yeah, sure. don't give up. >> thank you. governor o'malley: keep the goodness in america, they will come forward. >> thank you so much.

governor o'malley: thank you, all, for what you do. keep up the fight. thanks for caucuses. thanks for your questions. thanks a lot. social security people. the red shirt. >> thank you so much for having a plan. >> it's a pleasure to meet you. governor o'malley: pleasure to meet you guys. >> so refreshing. governor o'malley: the republicans never say strap the -- >> governor o'malley, you're -- governor o'malley: thank you. >> give it back. governor o'malley: thanks a lot. >> i'm a vietnam veteran. my time getting out of the service in oakland, california, that was it. nothing. governor o'malley: yeah. >> i got -- governor o'malley: good luck. have a good day. we do an awful job. >> i'm better now. governor o'malley: we got to get better.

sure. which one was yours? didn't they try to do a properly thing on that? wasn't there some sort of nuclear or something they put in place so they can't filibuster? >> one would hope -- one would think that would be a good idea. >> thank you so much for coming. governor o'malley: thank you. glad to be back at simpson. >> thank you. >> a question, i don't know if you want it but we've been to a lot of your events. governor o'malley: nick. is this your brother? >> yes. governor o'malley: that was a great opener. want a picture? >> we, we would love one. thank you. >> yeah, do it. governor o'malley: thanks. see you, man. hi. >> very nice to meet you. thank you for coming here. governor o'malley: all right. we'll see you there.

>> we wanted to ask real quick. [inaudible] why should i -- what's the difference between you and -- governor o'malley: clear and more consistent record on gun control. clear and more consistent record on immigration reform. clear and more consistent record of action on climate change. i would never say new americans and immigrants take our jobs. >> there you go. all right. one, two, three. take a couple. >> thank you. governor o'malley: he voted against comprehensive immigration reform in 2007. >> we admire that. governor o'malley: i've always been clear. never waivered. >> thank you. >> hello, governor. my name is kay.

nice to meet you. governor o'malley: thank you, kay. >> it's really cool to see you at my college. can i take a photo? governor o'malley: absolutely. >> one, two, three. thank you. good luck on monday. >> glad to see you. governor o'malley: so am i. it's decision time, right? >> thank you so much. decision time, right? >> thank you so much. governor o'malley: thank you. >> hi. really excited to caucus for you. governor o'malley: i'm excited to have you caucus for me. what's your name? >> val. governor o'malley: val, thank you. stand firm. get me some delegates. make sure you stand firm in that first caucus and look around. see how you can coordinate with others. let me get in the middle. >> thank you. governor o'malley: stay strong and you'll pick up delegates. stay strong. >> we're simpson debaters. governor o'malley: simpson debaters. >> there are a lot of us here.

governor o'malley: what's your name? >> randy. governor o'malley: randy. thanks for the guitar. >> thank you. that was awesome. >> we were happy to talk about the syrian refugee crisis. you're the first person to actually talk about it. thank you. governor o'malley: good. i was surprised when the question came, i thought well, this is just common sense. >> we thought that too. no one talks about it. governor o'malley: a lot of xenophobia in the world. there is lots of screening. >> can we take a pic? governor o'malley: yep. have you been watching all of the debates? >> we have. we have not missed one. governor o'malley: that last one i felt like we pierced through in ways we had not yet before. >> definitely. governor o'malley: even with the weird format.

>> yeah. >> agreed. governor o'malley: hard to win a debate when you get 1/3 of the time as the others. >> my dad is a holocaust survivor and so never again means something to me. i'm deeply concerned about iran building a bomb, wiping israel off the map. i'm deeply concerned about college campuses being infected with anti-semitism. and a lot of people who are your soulmates on a lot of issues ideologically, they don't understand israel's pro-gay rights. what can you do to just get the anti-semitism out of the far left of the democratic party? governor o'malley: look, man, i've been to israel many times. being from maryland, many of the early pages of the golden book and the founding of israel had maryland zip codes on it, had maryland addresses, rather. so i've been there many times. i understand israel's our staunchest ally. having said that, i also believe in a two-state solution and i also believe that it's the longest -- that it's the best chance we have for a lasting peace and i support the president's iranian deal but i'm a realist. i know it has to be enforced now. i think it was better than the alternative of having them sprint to a bomb. so this is -- we have to be

constantly on guard and constantly vigilant and realize who our friend is there in the region. and we also have to keep calling parties back to the table to try to find a more peaceful way to coexist. i think a two-state solution, as illusive as it looks, is the only possible long-term path forward. i think perhaps we need to dial up the sustainable development as a precedent to it. thank you. >> hi. welcome back to simpson college. i was actually here last time you came so it's nice to see you again. thank you for taking my question. i appreciate it. governor o'malley: hello, monica. are you guys together? >> thank you. governor o'malley: thank you, both, for being here.

hope you caucus for me. >> you were at the latino festival. i wonder if you have any major plans to end the wage gap between men and women? that's my thing that i'm kind of like -- governor o'malley: yeah. in our 15 strategic goals is one of the leading actions on making wages go up. we could lift so many women out of poverty if we simply paid equal pay. if we cut that gap in half, it would lift so many women out of poverty. there is a bill on equal pay, moving through -- it's in congress right now. i forget the title of it. i should look that up. but i support things that require, you know, payroll openness and transparency. yeah, the fair pay act. >> the lily ledbetter.

governor o'malley: we did that at the state level. but i think it's the fair pay act goes a step beyond lily ledbetter and require the reporting of wages paid between men and women and protections of women who might complain to employers. so we need to make real that promise. long deferred. we've been talking about it forever. >> i understand -- governor o'malley: thank you. hope you caucus for me. need you. hey. good to see you, man. >> these are my brothers. these four are. i have a few more friends that are -- governor o'malley: brothers. hi. >> good to meet you again. governor o'malley: tell me your name again? >> trey. >> jacob. >> austin. governor o'malley: jeff. >> and then -- >> sarah. >> molly. >> i'm virginia. governor o'malley: virginia. good to see you. not today. sorry. bye. want a picture, gang? thanks for all you're doing for me. >> yeah, for sure. governor o'malley: and you even put on a tie for me.

i was glad that plastic chair didn't crack while i was standing on it. it makes for more entertainment. thanks for coming. thank you, man. thanks a lot. stand strong. >> i really appreciated you answering my question and the -- dd-214 and all the forms. i come from an intensely military family and both candidates aren't giving details -- governor o'malley: yeah, i dove into this because we were doing such a poor job, sad to say i talked about things we were doing well in our own state. we were losing so many people falling through the cracks and catching up in county jails or hospitals. >> and end veteran homelessness. you might be my caucus. governor o'malley: what's your name? >> molly. governor o'malley: molly, i need you. it's all about getting things done. >> thank you for coming to simpson. i was at the carl event. governor o'malley: that was a packed event. >> yeah, a lot of fun. governor o'malley: tell me your name? >> trisha. governor o'malley: awesome.

thank you, trisha. awesome. what's your name? >> steve. governor o'malley: steve, thank you. >> i'm an independent but i'm going to caucus for you. governor o'malley: good woman. thank you. let's surprise them. beat expectations. thank you. thank you. thanks a lot. hi. good to meet you. want me to sign that? >> sure. governor o'malley: what's your name? c-o-e? >> yep. governor o'malley: sure. >> oh, sorry. governor o'malley: thank you, zoë. please caucus for me. good to see you again. you doing well. >> working hard down to the wire. governor o'malley: he's our hero. >> we're going to do -- >> just one more. thanks a lot. >> we're going to do a really quick snapshot.

all we need you to do is jump off this chair. everybody will stand behind. governor o'malley: everybody is going to stand behind. >> so you're going to say i'm here at simpson college. with one week left i need everyone to caucus for martin o'malley. governor o'malley: is everybody going to cheer? need everybody to go -- >> caucus -- governor o'malley: everybody to go out and caucus for o'malley. just cheer o'malley at the end of it. >> 10 seconds left. governor o'malley: all right. here we go. >> ready. governor o'malley: martin o'malley, days away from the iowa caucus. need you to go out and caucus for o'malley. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. governor o'malley: did that work? one take? >> wants to get a throwback picture. she met you at patty judge's back in -- governor o'malley: i slept at her house last night. who has a camera? seth, can you take a picture for

us? hello. >> looking great. >> i hope you enjoyed your way. governor o'malley: i stayed in your room. say hi helen. hey, how you doing, man? how's the campaign going? >> great. governor o'malley: good. >> off to a good start. governor o'malley: i saw you from afar. i should have shouted out your name. thank you so much for coming the other day. >> you going down to houston tomorrow? governor o'malley: talk about the -- where we going tomorrow? >> houston. governor o'malley: yeah, yeah. raising money for a day. >> good, good, good. governor o'malley: a day or two. there you go. thanks. yes. >> can we take a picture with you? governor o'malley: absolutely. >> thank you. governor o'malley: thanks a lot.

>> it is three days before the iowa caucuses.

christie will hold a town hold meeting. after that jeb bush is meeting with voters and supporters in carol. ben carson holds a campaign rally in iowa city. road to the white house starting at 8:00 eastern on c-span. >> the weekend prior to the caucuses there will be a frenzy of activity across iowa. so many candidates on the republican side. three viable candidates on the democratic side. we are looking at events that give you an idea of what it is like to be at the caucuses. need to make sure that the people who support you get to the caucuses.

they may still be on the fence. what you will see is -- >> live coverage of the presidential candidate in iowa. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," steffen schmidt. then former u.s. senator tim hutchinson explains why he endorsed marco rubio. after that, former u.s. senator tom harkin discusses hillary clinton half campaign and his support. all on "washington journal." saturday on c-span. >> more "road to the white

house" coverage now with democratic candidate bernie sanders, holding a campaign rally in mason city, iowa. he discussed minimum wage, paid and -- paid family leave, and work. this is one hour and 20 minutes. [applause] susan: the last time i was in iowa, i was here at the time that barack obama was coming through for the second time to thank the people of iowa for believing in him and for giving him the chance to go on to become the president of the united states.

[cheering and applause] the people of iowa did not listen to the machine that said he was unelectable. they listened to what this black man with the funny last name have to say. they gave him a shot. now here we are again facing the machine with the effect -- with the same complaints. except with a man who has proven over and over again that he is consistent, that he is principled and that he is incredibly brave. [cheering and applause] i have come here because for me gender is not what is important, issues are what is important. [cheering and applause] i want a candidate who has the courage to stand and do the right thing when it is not popular. when the time came for the war -- to vote for the war, the united states was traumatized, it was fearful, it was in a frenzy. the few people who had the courage to even ask a question were cut off from the herd and

labeled un-american, bin laden lovers. it was a scary time. very few people working in the system have the courage to even ask a question, let alone stand on the floor and make a speech that is now so prescient, so clear and brave as bernie sanders. [cheering and applause] it is one thing to be for gay rights and gay marriage once everybody else's for it, that is not difficult. [cheering and applause] you know, change is hard. to say you can't go for a decent minimum wage because you cannot get it because it is too difficult. to have it called pragmatic is not pragmatic, that is cynicism.

that is giving up before you've even tried. the right thing is a $15 minimum wage and that is what we have to get. [cheering and applause] you know, everybody realizes that we are being run by a machine that is being run my wall street, by big farm, by monsanto. [booing] yeah, boo. it is difficult. there is one man who has managed -- and this could be the only man who came up through the pipeline unscathed and pure. we now have the opportunity to make that man our choice for the president of the united states. [cheering and applause] and he's right. change is difficult. what this man is asking of

us is to be the machine now. i give you bernie sanders. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: this place goes all the way back, huh? well, let me thank all of you for coming out. this is a wonderful turnout.

let me thank charles for his right-on remarks. let me thank susan sarandon, not only -- [cheering and applause] not only for being a great actress. i have known susan for 25 to 30 years. there are other great actresses and actors in our country but what susan has been doing for her entire life is standing up for social justice for economic justice and for a world of peace. [cheering] susan, thank you for all that you have done and thanks for being here tonight. >> thank you. [cheering] sen. sanders: let me begin a little bit by talking about our

campaign and picking up on some of the points that charles and susan make. that is that anybody here who thinks that real change comes easy knows nothing about american history or world history. frederick douglas made the point way back when fighting to end slavery that change only comes with struggle. freedom is never given to people, you've got to fight to get it. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: that is what this campaign is about. we are taking on wall street and the economic establishment. yeah, we are taking on the political establishment. yeah, we are taking on the media establishment. but that is the establishment

that has to be taken on. [cheering and applause] if we are going to create the country that our people deserve. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: as susan said, some people say that is hard. it is hard. she's right. you do not take on wall street and think it is an easy struggle. you do not take on corporate america and all of their greed and think you're going to do it overnight. if we are going to create the nation that our people deserve, a nation that does not have the highest rate of child poverty of almost any major nation on earth, a nation in which millions of seniors are not

forced to live on $12,000, $13,000 a year. a nation which has more people in jail than any other country on earth. if you want to change that, you are going to have to fight and that is what this campaign is about. [cheering and applause] when we began this campaign, people said it is true, bernie combs his hair really nice. [laughter] he is a fantastic dresser. [laughter] but, despite those realities, he is a fringe candidate. who in america really believes we should be taking on the billionaire class? >> i do!

[cheering and applause] sen. sanders: turns out there are a few million people like you. here is a really crazy idea. are you ready for a real crazy idea? >> yeah! sen. sanders: who in america thinks the united states should join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all people? [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: turns out a whole lot of people think that. who in america says or believes that people should not be forced $9 ank for $8 an hour or hour, that our minimum wage should be a living wage? [cheering] sen. sanders: turns out that millions of people agree with that as well.

we started this campaign nine months ago without any money, without any organization, and with very little name recognition outside of the state of vermont. but a lot has happened in the last nine months -- [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: today, we have hundreds of thousands of volunteers all across this country in 50 states. [cheering] let me thank the 15,000 volunteers that we have right here in the state of iowa.

[cheering and applause] here is something else that really differentiates our campaign from the other campaigns. that is when we began, we had to ask ourselves a pretty difficult question. that is, all of you know, sadly but truthfully, to run for president of the united states today you need to raise an enormous sum of money. it is not good, but it is true. what the pundits tell us is the only way you can raise the kind of money that you need is to form a super pac and go to wall street and go to the wealthiest people in this country with your -- for your campaign funding. [booing] you know what? street. represent wall we do not represent corporate america. we do not want their money. [cheering and applause]

sen. sanders: we decided to do it in a different way. when we decided to do is to go out to the working families and the middle class of this country and to say to them, if you want real change, if you want a political revolution, you are going to have to help us out. an amazing thing happened that i never in my life would have dreamed of nine months ago. today, we have received 2.5 million individual campaign contributions. [cheering and applause] that is more individual contributions than any campaign in the history of the united states up to this point. [cheering and applause]

let me if i might tell you one of the major differences between our campaign and my opponents campaign. i am delighted to be here with you tonight in mason city. my opponent is not in iowa tonight. she is raising money from a philadelphia investment firm. [booing] sen. sanders: frankly, i would rather be here with you. [cheering] sen. sanders: now, when you come to the last week of a campaign, especially when you run up against a campaign that now sees

itself in trouble. you know, when we began this campaign, we were 40 to 50 points behind. now with your help, we are going to win here in iowa. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: needless to say, our opponents are not that enthusiastic about that reality. they go out and say a whole lot of things. one of the things they say is bernie sanders, nice guy, interesting ideas, but he just could not win a general election. let me make it clear that that is absolutely wrong. [cheering] [applause] sen. sanders: let me tell you why for three reasons.

in the most recent national poll that i saw, hillary clinton was doing very well. she was defeating donald trump by 10 points. we were defeating him by 15 points. [cheering] [applause] sen. sanders: now iowa and new hampshire are important, not just because they are the first two states to vote in the presidential process. but both of those states are battleground states. according to the most recent polls that i've seen, hillary clinton was ahead of donald trump here in iowa by eight points. we were ahead by 13 points. [cheering and applause]

sen. sanders: in new hampshire, based on the last poll that i saw, she was defeating donald trump by one point, that is good. we were defeating him by 19 points. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: but it is not just polls. polls go up and polls go down. here is what is most important. republicans win national elections and state elections when people become demoralized, when they give up on the political process, and when they do not vote. an example of that was just a year ago in november, republicans won a landslide victory. recaptured the senate. did better in the house, won

governorships across the country. in that election, 63% of the american people did not vote. 80% of young people did not vote. that is how republicans win elections. that is why republican governors are all over this country are busy trying to suppress the vote. they love it when people cannot vote and do not vote. democrats and progressives win elections, as was the case in 2008, when the american people stand up, get involved in the political process and come out and vote in large numbers. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: i think anybody who objectively and fairly looks at our campaign versus our

opponent's campaign knows the energy, the enthusiasm, the momentum is with us. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: our campaign is reaching out to millions and millions of working class, middle class, young people and say that if you want a government that represents all of the people and not just a few, come on board the political revolution. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: that is exactly what we are seeing. the third reason we will win a general election is we will expose the republicans for what they are. [cheering] [applause]

sen. sanders: let me just give you an example of some of the views that donald trump has. it is not just his racist and bigoted language telling the american people, jesting that -- suggesting that the people coming from mexico are rapists or criminals or drug dealers. >> boo! sen. sanders: that is right. one would have thought that by the year 2016 we would've gotten beyond that type of xenophobia and racism. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: he told us that he saw on television thousands of muslims in new jersey

celebrating the destruction of the twin towers when nobody else in america saw that on television. it never happened. that is called pathological lying. [cheering] sen. sanders: it is not just that he is suggested that muslims should not be able to come into our country insulting one of the large religions in this world. and doing enormous damage to america's image from one end of this world to the other. a fierce debate took place in the parliament in london about whether or not they should allow him to come into their country. that was conservatives and labour people saying this man is insulting minorities, he is

scapegoating. we do not want him to come into our country. think about how this man is going to deal with the world when he can't even deal with our strongest ally. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: but it is more than that. here is a man who is a multi-multi-billionaire and he thinks that we should not raise the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. [booing] sen. sanders: this is a man who, in a republican debate, and what a show those republican debates are, after insulting everyone on

the stage and half of america came up with the conclusion that wages in america are too high. this is a man who thinks that we should give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the families of the top .2%. this is the man when, at a time when virtually the entire scientific community is telling us that climate change is real, caused by human activity and is already doing devastating harm, this is a man who tells us that climate change is a hoax invented by the chinese. [booing] sen. sanders: i was shocked by that remark, because i thought a great scientist like donald

trump would at least have been consistent and told us the hoax of climate change was caused by mexicans. [laughter] sen. sanders: or muslims. but the chinese? [laughter] sen. sanders: this republican party, and i speak to you as a ranking member, a leader of the democrats on the senate budget committee. this is a political party in the senate that voted to throw 27 million people off our health insurance. [booing] sen. sanders: when you ask them, as i did, i said, tell me, mr. chairman what happens when you

throw 27 million people off of health insurance? how many people die? how many people will get much sicker than they should be? they have no answer. they do not care. this is a political party in the senate budget which proposed the ending of medicare and converting it to a voucher program. what that means is you would give seniors a check for $8,000 and then they go out looking for private health insurance. if you are 85 years of age and you are dealing with cancer, you tell me what kind of insurance policy you are going to get for $8,000. virtually nothing to meet your needs. that is what they want to do.

this is a party in the senate that at a time when young people are finding it harder to afford college, proposed $90 billion in cuts in pell grant funding. this is a party who in their budget at a time when seniors cannot afford the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs proposed raising prescriptions -- prescription drug costs for seniors. that agenda, those policies, when exposed to the light of day, and there is nothing more than i would enjoy doing than exposing those policies to the american people. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: my friends, a

republican candidate running on those issues is not going to become president of the united states. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: now one of the reasons that we have been successful, i believe, in this campaign is because we are running a simple, straightforward campaign that is talking truth to the american people and talking about the real issues that face our country, and that we have the courage to propose real answers to the problems that we face. [cheering] sen. sanders: let me preface my remarks by telling you all what i think most of you already know.

today in america we are the wealthiest country in the history of the world, but most people do not know that because almost all of the new wealth and income is going to the top 1%. [booing] sen. sanders: let me tell you something else, my republican friends get very nervous when we talk about concepts like redistribution of wealth. they start shaking. here is the truth. in the last 30 years in this country, there has been a massive redistribution of wealth. problem is, it has gone in the wrong direction. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: it has gone from the pockets and the hands of hardworking people, into the hands of the .1%.

today in america, we have more income and wealth inequality than any other major country on earth. and it is worse here now than at any time since 1928. today in america, and i would like you to hear this, you do not see it on tv. you won't read it in the papers often. today in america the top .1% now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. today in america, the 20 wealthiest people in our country own more wealth than the bottom 150 million bottom half of america. today in america, one family -- this is the united states of america we are talking about, this is not some little oligarchy. this is america.

today in america, one family, the wealthiest family in this country, the walton family that -- who owns walmart, they alone own more wealth than the bottom 40% of the american people. one family. here is something about the walton family that is important to discuss. many of my republican colleagues around the country and they talk about welfare abuse, about poor people ripping off the welfare system. the largest recipient of welfare in america today is the walton family, the wealthiest family in america. [cheering and applause] sen. sanders: here's why. walmart is the largest private-sector employer in our