billionaires it has but by how it treats the weakest and most vulnerable amongst us. that's what a great nation is about. [applause] there are millions of seniors and disabled veterans in this country who are trying to get by on $12,000 per year social security. you know what? nobody can get by on $11,000 or $12,000 a year on social security. unbelievably, there are republicans out there who actually want to cut social security. i've got some very bad news for them. not only are we not going to cut social security, we are going to expand social security benefits. [applause] this campaign is listening to

young people and what young people are telling me is how does it happen that i end up 50, $50,000, $60,000, $80,000 in debt because i simply wanted to get the best education that i could. [applause] again, this is what keith ellison was saying. we have got to think outside of the status quo. we all take it for granted. millions of people in this country are deeply in debt for the crime of getting a higher education. you know what? that's pretty crazy. that is not right. what we want to do is to encourage every american to be able to get all of the education that they need, not punish people for getting an education. [applause]

that is why we are going to do three things. again, this may seem radical but women's rights were considered radical. gay rights were considered radical. [applause] workers rights were considered radical. so here is the idea. the idea is that for many, many years, the idea of free public education being first grade through 12th grade was a great idea. because 40, 50 years ago, you graduate high school and you know what? you can go out there and get a pretty good job. the world has changed and today in many respects, a college degree is the equivalent of what a high school degree was 50 years ago. [applause] so it seems to me we have got to

do three things -- number one. in the year 2016, we have got to make public colleges and universities tuition free. [applause] is this a radical idea? it's not a rabbit radical idea. it is absolutely common sense. the world has changed, new type of education is needed to deal with the new technologies that are complicated. people need different types and more education. second of all, you have got countries like germany and scandinavia, that's what they are doing. the third thing and this will shock some of you, 50, 60 years ago, guess what? public colleges and universities in the united states of america were virtually tuition free. this is not a radical idea. it's exactly what we should do. the second thing we should do is

that people are carrying heavy student debt. we have got to lower that debt i buy allowing them to refinance their loans. [applause] as you know, 2008, after wall street's reckless and illegal behavior drove this economy into the worst economic downturn since the great depression, the congress bailed out wall street. they bailed out the wealthiest and most powerful institution in america. i think that now, what we need to do, is impose a tax on wall street speculation. [applause] which will raise the money we need to lower student debt and

make public colleges and universities tuition free. [applause] you helped bailout wall street. now it is wall street's turn to help the middle class. [applause] this campaign is listening to women. what women are saying is how does it happen that they sit in an office or factory and they end up making $.79 on the dollar compared to the guy in the other room? [applause] i know that every man in this room will stand with women in the fight for pay equity for women workers. [applause] this campaign is listening to

our brothers and sisters in the african-american community. what they are telling us is that we have a broken criminal justice system. [applause] which ends up having more people in jail then any other country on earth. shamefully, absurdly, we are spending $80 billion per year to lock up 2.2 million americans -- disproportionately african americans, latino, and native americans. one of the reasons for that is that youth unemployment in this country is outrageously high. for young whites, 33% are high school graduates, latinos 36%,

african-americans, 51%. you want to hear a radical idea? here's the radical idea. we are going to invest in education and jobs for our young people, not jails and incarceration. [applause] this campaign is listening to our latino brothers and sisters. what they are telling us is that they are tired of living in fear, living in the shadows and i agree with them when they say we need comprehensive immigration reform and a path to ward citizenship. [applause]

this campaign is listening to native americans. these are people who have been treated shamefully for hundreds of years. [applause] we own the first -- we knowowe the first americans so much and it's time we started paying back that debt. [applause] there is a lot of anger out there today in the united states and i will tell you one of the reasons why there is so much anger. in my state and in michigan, throughout this country, you've got millions of people working longer hours for lower wages. you will have families where mom is working long hours and dad is working long hours and kids are working long hours.

marriages are being stressed and destroyed because parents don't have quality time to spend together. kids are not getting the attention they deserve because everybody is working. [applause] meanwhile, despite the fact that we work so hard and here in america, not a lot of people know this, we worked the longest hours of any people in the industrialized world. the japanese are hard workers, we work longer hours than they do. and yet, despite all of that 58% of all new income created today goes to the top 1%. [boos] today in america, we have a worse level and more grotesque level of wealth inequality than any other major country on

earth, worse today than since 1928. in america today, the top 1/10 of 1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. the wealthiest 20 people own more wealth in the bottom half of america, 150 million people. what our job is and what we can do together is to create an economy that works for all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors. [applause] real unemployment in this country is not 4.9%. that is official unemployment. real unemployment is double that. youth unemployment is off the charts.

i was informed michigan, -- in flint, michigan a couple of weeks ago talking to people who have been impacted by poison the ed water. we had a town meeting there as well. the conclusion that i reached is that it was, in talking and listening to these people and their pain i don't want to speak out out what i heard because it is so painful about children being poisoned and the implications of that and what it means for kids lives -- that was happening in the united states of america in the year 2016 was literally hard to believe. it was like i was talking to people in the third or fourth world country, not the richest country in the history of the world. in the richest country in the history of the world, our infrastructure, our water system, our wastewater plants, our roads, our bridges, rail system are levees and dams should

not be crumbling. that is why we have got to rebuild our water systems in flint and all over this country rebuild our infrastructure and when we do that, we can create 13 million decent paying jobs. [applause] republicans go around the country and they talk a lot about family values. i want you all to know what they mean by that. what they mean is that no woman in this room, in this state, in this country should have the right to control her own body. i disagree. [applause] what they mean is that our gay

brothers and sisters should not have the right to be married. i disagree. [applause] but when i talk about family values, it is a little bit different than republican family values. this is what i talk about -- i talk about ending the international embarrassment of the united states being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. [applause] there is a woman today in michigan or vermont, throughout this country, who is having some beautiful baby today and that is a great day. but if that woman is working class or lower income, you

know what happens to her relationship to her baby? what happens is that in a week or two weeks after birth, she is forced to separate herself from that baby and go back to work and earn enough income to take care of her family. that is wrong. a mom and a dad have the right to stay home with their newborn baby. [applause] and that is why together, we will pass legislation now in the congress guaranteeing three months paid family and medical leave. [applause] when we talk about what goes on in this country and billionaires

buying elections and wall street putting all kinds of money into super pacs, you and i know that is not democracy. that is oligarchy. [applause] and that is why we are going to overturn this disastrous citizens united supreme court ruling. [applause] i am a member of the u.s. senate committee on the environment and on energy. i have talked to scientists all over our country and all over the world. the debate is over. climate change is real. it is caused by human activity and it is already doing devastating harm in our country and around the world.

[applause] we have a moral responsibility to make sure that this planet, our only planet, is left to future generations in a way that is healthy and is habitable. what the scientists are telling us very clearly is that if we do not get our act together and in a very short time this planet, , by the end of this century, will be between 5-10 degrees fahrenheit warmer. you know what that means? it means more drought, more flooding, more extreme weather disturbances, more acidification and destruction of our oceans. it means more rising sea levels and the flooding of coastal communities.

it means more international conflict as people around the world fight over limited natural resources. we must have the courage to take on the fossil fuel industry and tell them we are going to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. [applause] leaving this planet in a way that is healthy for future generations is a heck of a lot more important than the short-term profits of oil companies or coal companies. [applause]

let me connect some dots for you and tell you what a corrupt campaign finance system means to sensible policies. you may have noticed tv does not talk about it but you may have noticed not one republican candidate for president will go before you and say i've talked to the scientists and read the literature and climate change is real and we got to do something about it. not one. the reason for that is that on the day that republican comes forward and says that climate change is real, on that day, that candidate loses his funding from the fossil fuel industry. [applause] that is what a corrupt campaign finance system does. that is not the symbol from the -- dissimilar from the fact that all of you are paying the highest prices in the world for

prescription drugs. do you think it's an accident that the pharmaceutical industry pours huge amounts of money into campaign contributions and huge amounts of money into lobbying? that's what you get when you buy congress. you get the ability to charge the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs in this country. if you are wall street, what your campaign contribution s bring you is the ability to overturn legislation like glass-steagall, the ability to make sure that wall street can do it wants to do. that is what money buys. that's why we have got to change this campaign finance system. [applause] there have been many issues i

have been attacked on but one may be more than any other. that is that i recognize that in every major country on earth whether it is the united kingdom or france or germany, italy, holland, scandinavia or our neighbors to the north in canada, all of those countries managed to provide health care to all of their people. [applause] the united states today is the only major country on earth that does not do that. i think that is wrong. it is my belief, let me say it again to be as crystal clear as i can -- in my view, health care is a right of all people, not a privilege. [applause]

when we think big, we have got to ask ourselves, how does it happen today despite the good gains of the affordable care act, 29 million americans have no health insurance? many of you in this room and millions of americans do have health insurance but you are , underinsured with high deductibles and copayments, am i right? some of you, i'd bet, have $5,000 in deductibles, right? some of you have more than that, right? what does it mean if you have a high deductible and not a lot of money? it means you don't go to the doctor when you should. we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. meanwhile, despite all of those problems, we are spending far , far more than any other major country per person on health care. we are spending almost three

times what the british spend and 50% more than the french and for far more than the canadians. that's why it is my view that this country must move toward a medicare for all health care system. [applause] i have been told -- my critics say this, my opponent says ernie bernie is a nice guy but just can't win a general election. he just can't beat those republicans. >> your whim. -- you're going to win! sen. sanders: let me just say the polls go up and down and sometimes they are not always

reliable, but here's the fact. virtually every national poll of that has taken place has bernie sanders defeating donald trump. [applause] and almost all of those national polls and many state polls have bernie sanders defeating donald trump by a much wider margin than hillary clinton. [applause] here in michigan for example there was a poll out the other day. hillary clinton did well against trump. she beat him in the polls by 16 points. that's very good. we beat him by 22 points. [applause] that is true in state after state after state.

the reason that we will together defeat donald trump if he is the republican candidate is not complicated. that is that the american people are not going to elect as president somebody who insults muslims. [applause] one of the largest religions in the world, that's not the kind of guy they will elect as president. somebody who insults mexicans our neighbors to the south. [applause] the american people are not going to elect a president who every day is insulting women. [applause] who insults african-americans, let us not forget, people

sometimes do -- president obama who i've known for many years has been subjected not only to more obstructionism on the part of republicans, unprecedented legislative obstructionism, but it has gone further than that. >> tell him what it is. it's racism. sen. sanders: president obama, as you go, donald trump a few years ago led the so-called birther effort. what that birther effort was about was a very significant thing. what he was trying to do is to de-legitimize the president of the united states. what he was saying is this guy's not really the president because he really was not born in the united states of america. absolutely blatant lie. here's the interesting thing. president obama's father was born in kenya. my father was born in poland.

nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. [applause] >> bu bernie! sen. sanders: do you think it might have something to do with the color of my skin versus president obama's skin? i think so. [applause] we will defeat donald trump because the american people understand that bringing people together trumps dividing people up. [applause] the american people understand that community helping each

other trumps selfishness. [applause] and most importantly, the american people understand what every great religion on earth, christianity, judaism, islam buddhism, whatever the religion is and that is that love trumps hatred. [applause] tomorrow michigan has a very , important role to play in the fight for fundamental change in america and a political revolution. we will win if there is a large voter turnout. please, make that happen. thank you all. [cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

>> bernie! bernie! bernie! [cheers] ♪ >> we have to keep it moving,

guys. come on. you need to get back. >> hey bernie. ♪ >> thank you.

♪

[inaudible] >> bernie! president sanders! >> bernie! bernie! [chanting]

>> bernie, please. >> as campaign 2016 continues three primaries and one caucus have taken place in several states today, with a special focus on michigan and mississippi. joining us -- join us at 8:00 p.m. eastern, taking you on the road to the white house on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> on the next "washington

journal," the feminist majority on the campaign. when crystal right -- and crystal wright. "washington journal," is live, you can join the conversation with your calls in conversation on twitter. >> today, the heads of the pentagon's u.s. central, africa and central operations command testified at a senate armed services committee on antiterrorism efforts. that's live at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span three. >> join us this thursday for live coverage of the white house state dinner for canadian prime minister johnson trudeau -- jonathan trudeau. that's at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> at of the michigan primary, democratic candidate hillary clinton holds a campaign rally

in detroit. this event is 20 minutes. >> ♪ i am a champion and you are going to hear me roar louder, louder than the lion because i'm the champion and you are going to hear me roar ♪ hillary clinton: thank you. wow, i am so happy to be here and to have this chance to really thank each and every one of you. there are a few folks that i want to acknowledge starting with your mayor, mayor duggins. thank you for your leadership of this great city.

congressman john connors, thank you. congresswoman debbie shingle thank you. congresswoman brenda lawrence, thank you. detroit city council president brenda jones, thank you. i want to thank the charles right museum and the staff for enabling us to be in this glorious space. thank you all! >> hillary, we love you. hillary clinton: i also what would big thank you to detroit and michigan. you have opened up your arms and your hearts to bill and chelsea and me. we are so grateful.

with your help. we sure can't do it without you. i have got to tell you, both bill and chelsea have had the best time traveling across the whole state, meeting wonderful people. it is especially exciting to be here in detroit, a city on the way back up. last night, we had the debate in flint. i asked if we can have that debate there. i was really gratified the answer was yes. i want to shine a bright spotlight to what happened in flint, michigan. [applause]

hillary clinton: i've told the mayor there are, other officials, and the leaders of flint that we are going to stick with them. there is a lot of work to be done. obviously, the pipes have to be taken out and new pipes put it back in, that can deliver clean, safe water to the families of flint. thank you. i see some laborers here that were part of doing that work. i love seeing -- i see some plumbers here. union plumbers. they have already been helping the people of flint! i thank you for that because we have to pull together to support the families and in particular the children. i will stick with them until they do not need help anymore. whether or not i am in public life.

my husband, my daughter and i -- we have made a commitment to help flint recover and make it possible for them to be even better after they do so. let's stick with them! [applause] hillary clinton: i am running for president to knock down all the barriers that stand in the way of america reaching its potential and of americans reaching ours. yes, there are economic barriers. we need to get more good jobs more rising incomes. we need to put people to work. we need more manufacturing like , the factory that i visited the other day. detroit manufacturing systems. i saw people working around the clock all week and i talked with them, and they said they loved

their jobs, because they were not only making things but because they were being treated with respect. i want to go everywhere and be told exactly the same thing. we are going to have a renaissance in manufacturing. i am very proud that i voted to rescue the auto industry when i was in the senate. [applause] hillary clinton: we are creating more good jobs with clean, renewable energy. we have to take climate change seriously. we are going to help small businesses. the fastest-growing segment of small business are minority owned and women owned small businesses.

the fastest group of all our african-american women who are creating small businesses faster than everybody. i want to be a small business president. we are also going to fight to raise the minimum wage. and finally we are going to get equal pay for women's work. [applause] hillary clinton: everything i have just said, the republicans disagree with. we have our work cut out for us. that is why it is so important to turn out tomorrow. the sooner i can become your nominee, the more i can begin to turn our attention to the republicans. we also have to build on the

affordable care act. let's get to universal coverage. we are at 90%, let's go the other 10%, tackle high prescription drug costs and let's make sure that every child in every zip code gets a first-class education in america. [applause] hillary clinton: i don't need to tell you that the detroit public schools under an emergency manager are in worse shape than before. you have precious children and classrooms filled with moles and -- mold and rodents. it's almost hard to think of. i have been saying the governor should turn back the control of the school to the people of detroit.

we should also have early childhood education so more kids can succeed and schools. we have to make college affordable for everyone again. [applause] hillary clinton: i have a plan to do that which i have laid out on my website. i hope you will take a look at it. we also need to get debts down. and repaid, by refinancing the debt the young people currently have. let's remember that among the barriers we have to tackle our barriers of bigotry and prejudice. let's be honest about that. we have systemic racism. we have systemic prejudice. we have a lot of people who are held back, who are cut out of employment opportunities, where educational opportunities are

not available, where the criminal justice system does not work for everyone, where the rate of incarceration is much too high across african-americans. because of the kind of campaign that republicans are running, we have a lot of people who have been attacked. right? you have to say this about him. he is an equal opportunity attacker. he has attacked mexicans, people with disabilities, women, he has attacked muslims. he has gone after everyone.

we will not lead a person like that ever become president of the united states. [applause] hillary clinton: we have got to work together. we need to unify our country not divide it. the republicans are against nearly every right we have ever achieved. i want you to know where i stand. i am for a woman's right to make her own health care decision, i will defend planned parenthood. i will defend marriage equality and try to end discrimination against the lgbt community.

i will fight for voting rights which are under attack across our country. i will appoint supreme court justices who reversed citizens united. speaking of the supreme court, i am 100%supportive of president obama's rights -- right to nominate a justice. we are also going to fight hard to make sure that we get comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. we will change what doesn't work in the v.a. because our veterans deserve nothing less than world-class health care. we will not let the republicans privatize the v.a. and we will not let them privatize social

security. [applause] hillary clinton: i want the young people here to believe and know that the social security trust fund will be there for you when you get to the age where you can draw from it. i will keep working for sensible gun safety measures. [applause] hillary clinton: i am absolutely amazed at the refusal of the gun lobby to work to try to protect lives. you can do that in a constitutional manner, make no mistake about it. our country did it for about 200 years. we have to get back to doing it together.

let me say a quick word about foreign relations and national security. when you go to vote tomorrow, you are voting for president but you are also voting for a commander in chief. [applause] hillary clinton: i want to make a serious point about defeating terrorism, particularly at terrorist network like isis. we have to lead an air campaign, we have to support fighters on the ground were willing to go after isis but we will not send american combat troops to syria or iraq. i do not believe that is the right approach. i want to say a particular word to all of the muslims that are here. and you might hear or see this

wherever they live in michigan were beyond. -- or beyond. i will do everything i can to keep america safe and i know that among the most important people to help us do that are muslim american friends and neighbors. [applause] hillary clinton: when you hear the kind of bigotry and bluster coming from the republican side, not only making very intimidating marks about american muslims, but also preventing them from coming into our country. insulting one of the great religions in the world, this is not only offensive and shameful that is dangerous.

and it's also counterproductive because i know how hard it is to put coalitions together. i put a coalition together that imposed sanctions on iran, that led to negotiations. if we are going to go after terrorists networks like isis, we need to build a coalition with muslim nations. imagine someone running for president of the united states saying what we are hearing coming from that site. you think that's going to make it easy to put together coalitions? >> no. hillary clinton: it matters what you say if you are saying when you are running for president of the united states of america! [applause] hillary clinton: we have work to do. i am excited about doing it with all of you.

because i believe that america's best days can be ahead of us if we do what we must do to build bridges instead of walls, knock down barriers. and bill's letters -- build ladders of opportunity. i can't do that unless you bring out everyone you know to vote for me tomorrow. i will tell you this. if you come out and vote for me tomorrow, i will work for you and fight for you through this campaign and into the white house. thank you so much michigan! god bless you. [applause] ♪ dancing through the fire

i am the champion, you're going to hear me roar louder than the lion, because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar you're going to hear me roar ♪ i got the eye of the tiger the fire dancing through the fire because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar louder, louder than the lion because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar

you're going to hear me roar ♪ i got the eye of the tiger, the fire dancing through the fire because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar louder than the lion, because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar you're going to hear me roar ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ remember me

remember you and me remember her, remover unity -- remember unity remember loving neighbors without expecting favors if you dig knowledge the pain and you want to change, you can get through anything do you remember at all people walking hand-in-hand can we feel that love again? can you imagine it all? if we all could get along then we all could sing this song together oh oh singing oh

oh >> ♪ look at me i look at you look at me again we are not so different ♪ >>, teacher, so the most important for me is education. i'm looking at the candidates very closely for their programs and education. i'm not happy in the last 15 years or so with all the core standards and the common core that's been happening, i would like to see that change around. i'm going to vote for either bernie sanders or hillary clinton. i'm happy with both of those. i'm adjusted to see with their education plan what excellent turnout to be. >> i've decided i'm voting for ted cruz for the candidacy. because he is a constitutional scholar, he is eloquent, and he is principled.

consistently come out of all the candidate so far. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> today, the heads of the pentagon central, africa and special operations command testified in the senate armed services committee. that's live in 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span three. >> join us this thursday for live coverage of the white house state dinner for canadian prime minister justin trudeau. beginning at 6:15 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the sears c-span -- this year's c-span student cam competition, answering the question what issues they most

want to get us to discuss during the 2016 presidential campaign. students to list the economy equality, education, and immigration were all the top issues. tune in this wednesday morning at 8:00 eastern during washington journal, we will announce the grand prize winner first-place winners, and the fan favorite selected by the public area watch live on c-span and c-span.org. >> live today on c-span, "washington journal," is next. eastern, homeland security secretary jeh johnson testifies about his department's 2017 budget. this afternoon i look at the relevance of state political parties. and later, ahead of prime minister justin trudeau's visit thursday, a discussion on u.s.-canada relations. coming up in 45 minutes, eleanor smeal, president of the feminist majority foundation on campaign 2016 and feminism.

and at 8:30 a.m. crystal wright, editor and publisher of conservative blackchick.com on race, politics and campaign 2016. host: good morning it's tuesday, march 8, 2016. the senate is set to convene at 10:00 a.m. this morning. the house remains on a district work period and is set to meet thursday for a brief pro forma session. we begin this morning on the "washington journal," four states are holding primaries or caucuses today with michigan being the biggest prize of the day, and a key topic of debate in the campaigns of that state has been trade policy in the united states, and how trade deals have