06/27/19 06/27/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the biggest threat to the security of the united states is donald trump. >> the greatest threat we face is the fact we are at a greater risk of nuclear war. >> our existential threat is climate change. >> climate change. >> climate change. and climate change. amy: in the first presidential debate of the 2020 election, 10 democratic candidates sparred over issues from immigration to health care to gun reform and the war in afghanistan. another 10 democratic candidates will debate tonight post up the debates are being held in miami, less than an hour away from homes that florida, where more than 2000 unaccompanied migrant minors are incarcerated in a for-profit detention center run by caliburn.

president trump's former chief of staff general john kelly sits on the board. we will air highlights from the debate and host a roundtable discussion. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. 10 candidates took the stage in miami last night for the first of a two-night democratic primary debate. in a heated two hour program, 2020 hopefuls were asked about healthcare, immigration, climate change, reproductive rights, and the economy. on healthcare, senator elizabeth warren and new york city mayor bill de blasio were the only two candidates who said they would eliminate private insurance altogether. this is senator warren on medicaid for all. >> i am for medicare for all. i spent a big chunk of my life looking at wife families go

broke. is of the biggest reasons medical bills. not just for people who have insurance, it is for people who have insurance. amy: former senator neo mayor and former secretary housing and urban development julian castro called for the decriminalization of immigration and challenged former congress member and fellow texan beto o'rourke over his refusal to do the same. this is castro answering a question on what he would do if he were president today. >> i would sign an executive order that would get rid of trump's zero-tolerance policy, the remain in mexico policy, and the metering policy. this metering policy is basically what prompted that risky swim across the river. they had been playing games with people who are coming and trying to seek asylum at our ports of entry. they went to a port of entry and they were denied the ability to make an asylum claim, so they got frustrated and tried to cross the river and they died

because of that. amy: on the climate, washington governor jay inslee touted the fact that he was the only candidate to make climate change the centerpiece of his campaign. >> we are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last back and do something about it. -- we have to understand, this is a climate crisis, an emergency. and it is our last chance in in a administration, the next one, to do something about it. amy: we'll have an hour-long roundtable discussion on last night's debate after headlines. the senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a $4.6 billion bill wednesday that includes funding for emergency aid at the southern border. earlier in the day, they rejected a house version of the bill that included new health and safety standards for jailed migrants but split progressive lawmakers. the senate bill provides additional funding for ice, immigration and customs

enforcement, and to the pentagon. president trump has threatened to veto the house bill while house speaker nancy pelosi rejected the senate's version and has said she would like to see better protections for jailed migrants and their children and a provision allowing lawmakers to visit detention facilities without notice. the pressure is now on for the house and senate to reconcile the two bills, with lawmakers set to leave for the upcoming july 4 recess. the department of health and human services has warned it could run out of funding to operate detention facilities for migrant children by the end of ne. in more immigration news, elizabeth warren and amy klobuchar visited a migrant children's prison in homestead, florida, head of last night debate. homestead, less than an hour from the debate venue in miami, plague -- has been plagued by reports of mistreatment and unsafe conditions with children being isolated and some taking to self harm.

other 2020 candidates in florida have also said they intend to visit the facility run by the for-profit company caliburn. bank of america said wednesday it will end its relationship with companies that are involved in the jailing of migrants, amid the growing outcry over conditions at the border and trump's inhumane immigration policies. bank of america reportedly provided financial services to caliburn, which runs the homestead facility. former white house chief of staff john kelly recently joined the board of caliburn. as the former head of homeland security, general kelly oversaw trump's zero tolerance family separation policy. asylum officers are calling for a federal court to put an end to trump's so-called remain in mexico policy, saying it threatens migrants' lives. the policy, which forces migrants to return to mexico while their asylum cases make their way through u.s. immigration courts, has been challenged by the aclu and other groups. court filings by a union representing the asylum

officers, read -- "asylum officers should not be forced to honor departmental directives that are fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and our international and domestic legal obligations." in indiana, the family of eric logan, the 54-year-old black man who was shot dead by a white police officer earlier this month, filed a lawsuit wednesday against officer ryan o'neill and the city of south bend. the officer did not have his body camera turned on at the time but claims he fired at logan after he approached him with a knife and refused to drop it. south bend mayor pete buttigieg has come under fire following logan's death. residents have called him out for failing to hold the police accountable and favoring wealthy white residents over black citizens. people of color make up 40% of south bend's population. buttigieg has also been accused of neglecting his mayoral duties to spend time on the 2020 campaign trail.

buttigieg is set to appear on stage tonight for the night of second the first democratic presidential primary debate. in breaking news, two blasts from suicide bombs have rocked the tunisian capital of tunis. multiple injuries were reported in the immediate aftermath. the first blast occurred near a police patrol on one of the city's main streets, close to the french embassy, killing at least one police officer and wounding at least three civilians according to the interior ministry. a second bomb exploded near a police station, injuring at least four others. no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. president trump and other world leaders arrived in osaka, japan today for the g20 summit. trump is expected to ask india through verse it's recent tariffs on some u.s. goods imposed earlier this month. meanwhile, "the wall street journal" is reporting that china will present a set of terms with the goal of ending the ongoing

u.s.-china trade war. trump is also expected to meet with russian president vladimir putin and crown prince mohammed bin salman amid growing opposition to the u.s.-backed, saudi-led war in yemen, and international calls for the saudi crown prince and other top officials to be held accountable for the "washington post" columnist jamal khashoggi's murder. in a landmark ruling, a french court found the government had failed to adequately tackle air pollution around paris. the decision came in response to a lawsuit by a woman and her teenage daughter who experienced respiratory illnesses believed to be linked to high levels of pollution in the parisian suburb where they live. environmentalists hailed the ruling as a crucial precedent. the group ecology without borders said in response -- "today victims of pollution, like victims of pesticide, should not be afraid to go to court to defend their health."

a united nations expert has warned we are on track for a climate apartheid, where wealthy people can pay their way out of the consequences of climate devastation, while others will face hunger, conflict, and mass displacement a new report by philip alston, the u.n. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, says the u.n. and the larger human rights community has been complacent in the planet's impending disaster and that even if current global emissions targets are met, "millions will be impoverished." poorer nations are expected to bear the brunt of at least 75% of the costs of climate change, even as the poorer half of the world's population generates just 10% of global emissions. in more climate news, the new york city council voted wednesday to declare a climate emergency, joining over 650 municipalities in 15 countries who have also made the symbolic declaration. other major cities to do so

include london and sydney. the move comes a few days after the new york state legislature passed the climate leadership and community protection act, an ambitious bill that aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. governor andrew cuomo has said he will sign the bill soon. the house oversight committee voted wednesday to subpoena white house counselor kellyanne conway to testify over her violations of the hatch act, a law barring federal employees from engaging in political activity as part of their official duties. the white house blocked conway from appearing before the panel for yesterday's hearing. earlier this month, a white house watchdog informed president trump conway violated the act on numerous occasions by "disparaging democratic presidential candidates while speaking in an official capacity during television interviews and on social media." oversight chair elijah cummings warned his panel would vote to hold conway in contempt if she ignores the subpoena.

and in new mexico, an iraqi man who had taken sanctuary from deportation since 2017 in an albuquerque church has had his removal order vacated and will have his case reheard, allowing him to move freely for the first time in two years. kadhim albumohammed came to the united states in 1994 as a refugee and worked as a linguist for the u.s. military between 2004 and 2009. in 2017, iraq agreed to take back a small number of citizens living in the u.s. in exchange for being removed from trump's muslim travel ban. albumohammed joined a class action lawsuit that prevented the deportation off 100 iraqis but has remained in sanctuary to avoid detention away from his family. albumohammed's attorney rebecca kitson announced the news and thanked his supporters at the albuquerque church yesterday.

>> it takes a village to build a do this. the greater community and the aclu of michigan were also really instrumental in this. they are a wonderful and perilous group of advocates. brings lighthis into the hearts of those that are still in sanctuary, knowing the fight continues and that sometimes you win. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i am nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. on thursday night, 10 democratic presidential candidates took part in the first debate of the 2020 presidential race. another 10 democrats will be debating tonight. the debate focused in part on the economy, healthcare, immigration, gun control, iran and climate change. it was a historic night with three female candidates taking part -- senators elizabeth

warren of massachusetts and amy klobuchar of minnesota and congresswoman tulsi gabbard of hawaii. it marked the first time more than one female candidate appeared in a major political party debate in the united states. amy: near the end of wednesday's debate, moderator chuck todd asked candidates to use one word to describe the greatest geopolitical threat facing the united states. former maryland congressman john delaney spoke first. >> the biggest geopolitical challenge is china. the biggest geopolitical threat remains nuclear weapons. >> governor inslee? >> the biggest threat to the security of the united states is donald trump. >> congresswoman gabbard? threat that we face is the fact we're at a greater risk of nuclear war today than ever before in history.

economic and china. iran. >> one or two words, police. >> climate change. >> climate change. looks nuclear proliferation and climate change. climate change. >> china, without a question, wiping us around the world economically. >> russia because there's been undermine our democracy and they have been doing a pretty damn good job of it and we need to stop them. nermeen: wednesday's debate was held in miami, florida. the venue was less than an hour away from homestead, florida, where more than 2000 unaccompanied minors are incarcerated in a for-profit detention center run by caliburn. trump's former chief of staff general john kelly sits on its board. prior to the debate, senators warren and klobuchar visited the facility. amy: during the debate, julian castro, the former secretary of

housing and urban development, former mayor of san antonio, criticized immigration policies of fellow texan, former congressman beto o'rourke. castro called for the repeal of section 1325 of the immigration and nationality act which criminalizes crossing the border at places other than ports of entry. >> let's be very clear. the reason they're separating these little children from their families is they're using section 1325 of that act, which criminalizes coming across the border, to incarcerate the parents and then separate them. some of them on this stage have called to end that, to terminate it. some, like congressman o'rourke, have not. i want to challenge all of the candidates to do that. >> i think it is a mistake. i think if you truly want to change the system, then we have to repeal that section. if not, it might as well be the same policy. folks let me respond.

as a member of congress, helped to introduce legislation that would ensure we do not criminalize those who are seeking asylum and refuge. if you are fleeing desperation, i want to make sure -- i'm still talking about everyone else. >> you are looking at one small part. i'm talking about a comprehensive rewrite of our immigration laws. >> that's not true. >> and if you do that, i don't think it's asking too much for people to follow our laws when they come to this country. >> lot of them are undocumented immigrants. and you said recently that the reason you didn't want to repeal section 1325 was because you were concerned about human trafficking and drug trafficking. but let me tell you what section 18, title 18 of the u.s. code title 21 and title 22, already , cover human trafficking. i think that you should do your homework on this issue. if you did your homework on this issue, you would know that we should repeal this section. >> this is an issue that we should -- no one amy: that is

julian castro and beto o'rourke in last night's democratic debate in miami, florida. we begin our roundtable with aimee allison co-executive , director of the center for popular democracy. longtime immigration activist. you may remember her putting her foot in the door of the elevator at the time of brett kavanaugh's confirmation hearings to prevent jeff flake, the senator, tried to challenge him on his support for brett kavanaugh. we are sticking with immigration right now. aimee allison, --ana maria archila, thank you for joining us. this debate taking place just over half an hour away from the detention facility for over 2300 migrant children. talk about the challenge julian put out to beto o'rourke. >> castro is leading the

conversation about how to imagine a new framework for immigration laws, how to really .ddress the cruelty he challenged beto o'rourke and frankly challenged the whole using the same old framework of comprehensive immigration reform that essentially for the last 20 years presented a solution to the broken immigration system is a legalization for some in exchange for militarization of the border, more deportations, more detentions, essentially more cruelty toward immigrant families. castro is saying the first thing we have to do is stop the worst part of our immigration system, which is the denial of asylum cases for people that come to the ports of entry, the criminalization of immigration, the criminalization of desperation -- which is the are sections in the law that have enabled the trump administration

to essentially grab adult that are coming to our borders in search of refuge, treat them as people who have broken criminal laws, and separate them from their children, essentially causing a generation of damage to thousands and thousands of children who are now sitting in jail-like facilities in florida, texas, and states across the country. amy: and beto o'rourke would not call for removal of that section that was put into place some 90 years ago. >> julian said their senators and massachusetts and senators in new jersey, both to states that are not border states, who have better policies, more humane ideas about how to treat people who are coming to our borders. julian has presented a very comprehensive, very visionary immigrants to treat as human beings and really transform the immigration system.

nermeen: what about cory booker? -- when he wased asked what he would do on day one if you were elected, he focused exclusively on immigration policies. your response to the points he made? >> i think senator booker and many of the other candidates understand that in order to trumpd to the administration's scapegoating of immigrants, they need to present a vision that is fundamentally different, a vision that is rooted in the idea we can and should be an inclusive society and that in order to be that, we need to make sure we are not treating people in the most inhumane ways as the trump administration has. so the candidates like booker, castro, senator warren, who are actually leaning into the issue of immigration, are the ones that are essentially presenting contrast toclear

the trump administration. usually for a long time, democrats have ran away from immigration. they consider this issue a dangerous issue in elections, and they run away from it. and when they run to it, they say, well, we need to enforce our laws in order to give people some reprieve, some path to citizenship. that has not worked. it has only resulted in more detentions, more deportations, the deaths of people at the border. we need to change that. they need to present a vision that is totally different. amy: you're talking about oscar the 25-year-old that and his 23-month-old girl whose picture by mexican journalist, face down in the real ground -- rio grande, drought, has been the backdrop of this week, both around the

immigration bill in congress around these debates. you have senators klobuchar and warren going to the homestead facility. 2300 unaccompanied migrant children are jailed there. ,nd you have general kelly president trump's, now on the board of caliburn that runs that facility. commerce members are asking for them to be investigated. you have biden speaking tonight was been the vice president under obama for eight years and although there's no question trump has taken the terror and the brutality against migrants to a new height, president obama built up the infrastructure. what do you expect biden to say? >> i don't expect vision from biden. i don't expect that much courage from biden. biden is responsible for the passage of the 94 crime bill, which resulted in the massive expansion of criminalization, mass incarceration in this country, investment in the militarization of police across

the country. senator biden is not someone we can expect to lead on issues of criminal justice and racial justice. -- there is a tremendous opportunity for democrats to actually part ways with their own history. it is true that under obama, immigrant families suffered tremendous levels of criminalization of deportation. he helped expand the tension aparatus, a lot of which is for-profit system. 70% of people who are in immigration detention centers are sitting in for-profit cells with people like john kelly making money for every child that is incarcerated in homestead. toend the entanglement of our government with for-profit companies that are making money from the caging of children and families. we need to make sure the

policies that have resulted in so many deaths, so many family separations, so much cruelty at the border and in the interior, are fundamentally changed. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to our discussion. ana maria archila, co-executive director of the center for popular democracy. we have a roundtable on this first of two democratic presidential primary debates that are taking place in miami. the first, last night. the second, tonight. we will be back in a moment. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. amy: one of the most heated moments of wednesday's democratic debate came when congresswoman tulsi gabbard of hawaii took issue with ohio congressman tim ryan's call for

the united states to stay afghanistan where the u.s. has been fighting since 2001. >> i don't want to be engaged. i wish we were spending all of this money in places that i've represented that have been completely forgotten and we were rebuilding. the reality is, if the u.s. is not engaged, the taliban will grow and they will have bigger, bolder terrorist acts. we've got to have some presence there. >> the taliban was there long before we came in and will be there long before we leave. troopsot keep u.s. deployed to afghanistan thinking we're going to somehow squash this taliban that has been there . >> i did not say squash them. when we were not in their, they started flying planes into our buildings. i'm saying right now -- >> the taliban did not attack us on 9/11. usill tell you who attacked on 9/11. that is why i and so many other people have challenged the military to go after the

military not the taliban. >> the taliban was protecting those people who were plotting against us. all i'm saying is, if we want to go into elections, and we want to say that we've got to withdraw from the world, that's what president trump is saying. we can't. i would love for us to. >> you know who's protecting al qaida right now? it's saudi arabia. amy: there you have the debate between tim ryan and tulsi gabbard, congressman mers from ohio and hawaii. by aimeeo joined allison president of democracy , in color and founder of she the people. she is co-author of the book "army of none." respond toave you that little debate within the primary debate last night, you are speaking to us from miami, florida.

you were there last night. can you set the scene for us and what your most surprised by? >> she the people work with new florida majority to assemble 400 women of color just blocks from the center where the debate was taking place. women of color have been long been the gauge of where the momentum in particular campaigns and what issues are going to be important in this presidential primary. so that was an exchange -- we were listening and watching carefully because the justice agenda that women of color have been advocating for as movement leaders, as well as voters, extends to foreign-policy. seeg all of those lines, we the women of color that were assembled were watching very carefully for what was indicated. angrytim ryan, who looked the entire night, issued a statement criticizing tulsi gabbard. i don't particularly think either one of them in their

ofhange captured the spirit what most people in this country want to see in our foreign policy, want to see a path to normalcy and to peace. , your own allison history as both a soldier -- you were one of the first women of color to be honorably discharged from the u.s. army as a conscientious objector. on the issue of war last night, do you think it was adequately addressed? >> i do not think it was. look, what i learned long ago as a young woman, as a medic in the military was that sometimes you have to take a moral stand. even if that is difficult. what we see here is an argument between people who want to be to asknt who have themselves at this point what kind of leadership is needed in this country. i think one of the things that

we have discovered, me as earning an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector, we have to really expose the need for moral courage across the board. with the women of color we have been organizing with she the people, legality does not mean morality and we have been uniquely positioned to show leadership in this moment. i think one of the things we're going to have to look forward to in the debates and in the primary is, are those candidates who are willing to make bold assertions and to support the kind of justice politics that support not only home and abroad, economic, racial, social and gender justice? i think that is the base of the party is looking for at the moment. nermeen: this debate took place -- the backdrop was the escalating tension between iran

and the united states, the trump administration. and last night, when the candidates were asked whether they would back the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by the obama administration in its form then, senator cory booker was the only one who said he would not. your response to that? >> i think his response was fair. cory booker had a very good night. i think to show the nuance and understanding that the united states should push forward in renegotiating the deal -- i mean, think he said, yeah, we need to go from the 2015 agreement and forward, but to explore what that deal might look like. it was one of the moments that set him apart on the debate stage. amy: i want to turn to the issue of climate as we continue to discuss this first democratic debate. we're talking about the city of miami, ground zero for climate change in this country.

let's go to msnbc moderator rachel maddow questioning the washington governor jay inslee about climate change. >> governor inslee, this one is to you. you have staked your candidacy on climate change. it is first, second, and third. you set it is all the issues. let's get specific. we are here in miami which is already experiencing flooding on sunny days as a result of sea level rise. parts of miami beach and the keys could be underwater in our lifetimes. does your plan save miami? >> yes, first by taking away the filibuster from mitch mcconnell, to start with. we have to do that. look it, look it, we are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last that can do something about it. our towns are burning. our fields are flooding. miami is inundated. and we have to understand, this is a climate crisis, an emergency. and it is our last chance in the

administration, next one, to do something about it. and we need to do what i've done in my state. we've passed a 100% clean electrical grid bill. we now have a vision statement. and my plan has been called the gold standard of putting people to work. but the most important thing on this, in the biggest decision for the american public is, who is going to make this the first priority? and i am the candidate and the only one who's saying this has to be the top priority of the united states, the organizing principle to mobilize the united states. nermeen: as the debate took place in miami last that, climate activists from sunrise movement protest at the democratic national committee's climate change a centered primary debate. climate activists have been camping out in front of dnc headquarters in washington, d.c. joining us now is varshini prakash, founder of sunrise movement.

welcome to democracy now! could you comment on the way in which climate change was addressed in last night's debate ? it was apparently seven minutes devoted to the issue, which is seven minutes more than was devoted in 2016, but who do you think was strongest on climate change? watched the debate at a debate watch party in boston where i live, with dozens of young people. there were over 100 watch parties that took place like this organized by sunrise movement. we were looking to see if nbc and the democrats treated the climate crisis like the emergency that it is. frankly, aside from a few bright people, all of the young who are at these watch parties across the nation left in deep anger and disappointment. we have watched our entire lives as the political and media establishment has completely

sidelined the issue, the greatest existential threat of our lifetime, and refused to cover the problem with the severity and intentionality that it deserves. we have been watching as hurricane maria claimed the lives of 3000 americans, as people on the west coast have seen their land burn up in a matter of seconds, as miami is threatened to go underwater and experiencing severe storms every single year that worsen. -- and we were feeling during that time, to see the dnc only devote six or seven minutes of time and three sort of questions to the issue of climate was deeply disappointing and frustrating. i think we saw few candidates come out swinging on the issue of climate. honestly, jay inslee, made his entire campaign about the climate crisis issue.

we've seen elizabeth warren come out within the first couple of minutes talking about the investment that can be made in our country to lead the world globally in green tech and green infrastructure. we saw julian castro, beto o'rourke, cory booker also made mention of the existential threat that climate change poses and talk about it through various forms. so i think all in all, we have been calling for a climate debate because we know a large for the establishment has failed us in treating this crisis and talking about it with the importance that it deserves. and we want to see a substantive debate on these issues, not just high-level talking points and a media spectacle. in: sunrise movement sat nancy pelosi's office, the house speaker -- in fact, alexandria ocasio-cortez before she was

seated as a commerce member was protesting outside the soon-to-be house speaker's office. and now you're protesting the dnc. what has been tom perez, the head of the dnc, what has been his response to this demand that inslee mate? it is not only that there has not been a climate focus debate, any candidateid who participated in a nonsanctioned debate around climate change would not be able to participate in any of the sanctioned debates. >> that's right. i think that was the particularly inflammatory part of why -- thousands of people have voiced their opinions, have called on the dnc to revoke that position, and why there are dozens of young people sitting out in front of dnc headquarters who have been locked out of the building for days and will overnighto -- set in

and will continue to sit and through the second debate. excuse afterffered excuse after excuse, calling the climate crisis a single issue, saying it is impractical or my favorite is, it is against the rules. frankly, people in my generation could not care less about the rules when we are seeing our entire planet begin to burn up in front of us. .his is a planetary emergency and we have not seen our political leaders treat it as such. so we're calling for a climate debate. we assume all to richard divorce coalition of people -- we have seen a multiracial diverse coalition rise up. when it comes to a question of our collective survival, there is no such thing as single issue. amy: we're going to go to break and come back to our discussion, our roundtable discussion on the first democratic primary debate of the 2020 season. this is the longest presidential

history of thein united states. 20 of the candidates are participating in these two nights of debates. we will be here tomorrow. tonight you have a among those debating, former vice president joe biden, bernie sanders, kamala harris from california, as well as pete buttigieg, who left south bend, indiana, dealing with a white police officer killing a black resident of south bend and the mass protest against him to come to the debate in miami. we're speaking with varshini prakash, who is the founder of the sunrise movement. this is democracy now! we will be joined by others as well. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!,

i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we're continuing our roundtable discussion about last nights 2020 presidential debate. this is elizabeth warren speaking about her plans to implement medicare for all and free college, among other programs. >> who is this economy really working for? for those atreat the top. it is doing great for giant drug companies. it's just not doing great for people who are trying to get a prescription filled. it's doing great for people who want to invest in private prisons, just not for the african-americans and latinx whose families are torn apart, whose lives are destroyed, and whose communities are ruined. it's doing great for giant oil companies that want to drill everywhere, just not for the rest of us who are watching climate change bear down upon us. when you've got a government, when you've got an economy that does great for those with money and isn't doing great for everyone else, that is corruption, pure and simple.

we need to call it out. we need to attack it head on. and we need to make structural change in our government, in our economy, and in our country. >> senator klobuchar, you've called programs like free college something you might do if you were "a magic genie." to be blunt, are the government programs and benefits that some of your rivals are offering giving your voters, people, a false sense of what's actually achievable? >> well, first, the economy. we know that not everyone is sharing in this prosperity. and donald trump just sits in the white house and gloats about what's going on, when you have so many people that are having trouble affording college and having trouble affording their premiums. so i do get concerned about paying for college for rich kids. i do. but i think my plan is a good one.

and my plan would be to, first of all, make community college free and make sure that everyone else besides that top percentile gets help with their education. my own dad and my sister got their first degrees with community college. there's many paths to success, as well as certifications. secondly, i'd used pell grants. i'd double them from $6,000 to $12,000 a year and expand it to the number of families that get covered, to families that make up to $100,000. and then the third thing i would do is make it easier for students to pay off their student loans. because i can tell you this, if billionaires can pay off their yachts, students should be able to pay off their student loans. amy: that was senator amy klobuchar responding to savannah guthrie. we are bringing anand giridharadas into the conversation editor-at-large at , time magazine and a former correspondent and columnist at "the new york times." his new book is "winners take

all: the elite charade of changing the world." your take on last night's debate , in particular, this discussion of the economy and especially how the woman at the center of this debate, senator elizabeth warren, who is far out pulling the other candidates here in this debate? >> i think it was a two-hour discussion, much of it, about how change is made in america and what kind of change is necessary and hovering over it, i think is another question that they're dealing with, sometimes scurrying around, which is why's donald trump president? is he president because of some lark, because he is a really weird guy who managed to squeeze is what in their? or is he president because of 30-year, 40-year megatrends of this country that left the majority of people feeling mocked by the future and led to the collapse of institutions that made him possible? in this race, you have a bunch

of people who i think think that, who i think think he is not the whole disease, he is the symptom, the boyle on the disease the body politic. in yet other people like biden who emphasize trump is our problem. if you break it down that way, among the -- elizabeth warren with bernie sanders from the leader of the camp that says this is a diseased body politic. trump is what you would expect to erupt if you neglect people for this long. when you have the exchange that you did, part of it is about incrementalism versus more fundamental change. do you do free college for everyone or pell grant's, the old democratic stuff. what think enough is itple are not talking about, is impossible for people to understand versus easy for people to understand. the reality is, they are competing.

one is going to compete against the president who, in my view is not a good human being and can presently barely read, but is good at simplicity. simple ideas. i think you have a bunch of people here who want to do the right thing for this country, but i think need to think harder , most of them, about matching the president in that level of simplicity. when you talk about health care, never having to think about health care again because it is just off the table like it is in britain, is a simple idea people can understand. it is as simple as the wall. good versus bad. code grants, block grants, medicaid. once you get into that, i think people don't know who they're talking to sometimes. i think i don't understand that most people are not their stuff. most people do not know what these things are. i think warren was particularly commanding because despite

having all of those things, did not use those words a lot. used more language. amy: i want to go to elizabeth warren on health care. she and bill de blasio are the only ones who raised their hands when it came to eliminating private health insurance, calling for medicare for all. >> i am with bernie on medicare for all. let me tell you why. i spent a big chunk of my life studying why families go broke. one of the number-one reasons is the cost of health care. medical bills. and that's not just for people who don't have insurance. it's for people who have insurance. amy: there you have elizabeth warren. obamacare.- i am on my kids are on obamacare. i can barely understand what it is. the number of times we've had problems -- our daughter was in rolled and then she was disenrolled when she was born because we did not sin in her social security number, but we asked we did not do that because she did not have won you because you not been born but you have to enroll before they are born.

for a few months, and infant, the most vulnerable other like, did not have coverage or maybe did -- we're not sure. financiallycapable and otherwise of navigating that, and i can barely handle it. and that is the fix. just in britain. i was a student in britain many years ago and i got sick and went to the doctor. i was not a citizen. i was living there for eight or nine months. at the end i was like, how do we settle this up yet go there were like, by you walking out. that was good because i was a student and i did not have a live of money -- a lot of money. it was not just a policy. there was an expressive value and that direction. the whole country was telling me something in that moment the details people every day in that moment, which is that this is on

us. your health, your well-being is on us. i think what is really interesting, you have i think cory booker talking and a lot of populist language less than it when you got to each policy, it was like, well -- i think there's been a lot of conventional wisdom in the democratic party that the more moderate approach to things gets you more addressable votes because bigots you coaching people on the other side. i actually think we are seeing a shift and that idea. with bernie, with warren, perhaps with others, of understanding that pure, simple, undiluted ideas like never think about health care again because it is just taken care of, actually may get you more republican votes or moderate votes are just excite euro people more because, frankly, people are busy. precisely because of this economy am a people are struggling, people do not sit around studying what block

grants are. amy: yorkies on bernie sanders, one of the things that elizabeth warren started the last clip with by saying she is wort with bernie, you have a piece on bernie sanders. what did you mean? he will be in the debate this evening. >> i spent eight days on the road with bernie in april. it was a fascinating experience. 6000 miles across the country. majord say i had two observations. the first is, i think bernie has built a movement. people throw around the word "movement" casually in this country but bernie has an actual movement, which is like a group of people who do things together, know each other, willing to fight him a put skin in the game. bernie has that kind of movement in a way that maybe no one knows in american life does. i think trump has some kind of mass terrifying sort of

movement of a different kind. bernie has a real organized civic movement. and that is a real accomplishment. thato think he is using movement to change the conversation in this country in a way that, you know, fewer than a dozen people in our history have really changed the conversation. there are a lot of things we are not talking about that maybe this show is talking about, but not the mainstream conversation, that we are all now talking about. i think on the other side of the ledger, the piece was not a political horse race peace. it was about character and the person. one of the things fascinating to me is what does it do to a person to fight a lonely four-year crusade were in the last two years of that crusade people start to listen to you? what does that do to your soul? do to a person? i think part of what it has done to him -- this is not just me

spit bawling. i spent a lot of time talking to his people come on record come off the record, just understanding the guy. and this is a person who i think saw something and said something about america that was not fashionable to say for a very long time. but in the process of fighting that lonely fight come has hardened. i think has closed off. this is vicious. even though large number people in the media, trust me, do not love the billionaires they work for and are very sympathetic to the broad thesis. someone who loves the people but does not have a lot of place in his life for people. you can see last at the people who delight in shaking hands with people, connecting with the humanity of people. this is someone who is averse to human beings when they're not by the 3000 in the room. so all of that to me was less a question mark about, he got

himself to an amazing place, but now he has nearly a couple dozen people in this race. does he have the human skills to actually grow and take this to the next level and connect with the people who are not his diehards? my: what is your sense of that, ana maria archila? >> i feel tremendous gratitude for the tenacity bernie sanders has come has lived his life by, and his ability to stay the course, to try to lay out so clearly who the real culprit of so much of our pain are -- which is the biggest corporations and the role they play in our democracy and in our economy. at the same time, i have found myself feeling worried about bernie's inability to perhaps grasp some of the changes in our political discourse. the ways in which young people,

young document of people are undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic. what they're saying is, i'm not going to make excuses for my existence and my life. i expect you and the political leaders in our country to put people first and to not make excuses for a system that has failed. i want to see bernie talking about more boldly not continuing the criminalization of immigrants, not succumbing to the politics of militarizing the border. and i think he -- in the same way here struggled -- i still fundamentally believe he would hold corporations accountable in a way that almost all other what.d official amy: i want to turn to cory booker who spoke about lgbtq rights. >> look, civil rights is something -- a place to begin but in the african mecca and, stop the lynching of african-americans.

we do not talk enough about trans americans, especially african-american trans americans, and the incredibly high rates of murder right now. we don't talk enough about how many children, about 30% of lgbtq kids, who do not go to school because of fear. it's not enough just to be on the equality act. i'm an original co-sponsor. we need to have a president that will fight to protect lgbtq americans every single day from violence in america. amy: that was new jersey senator cory booker. by the way, the issue of trans rights, the first time it was addressed in a presidential primary debate. aimee allison, the significance of this? >> it was an amazing moment have both senator booker and julian castro who mentioned trans rights in the context of reproductive justice -- joint amy: saying trans men can have babies. >> that's right. bringing community to a very vulnerable population and it is

a direct result of the amazing organizing happening on the ground for black trans rights. is, in ahat this means presidential contest -- as we go forward, the acknowledgment of african-americans in the diversity shows cory booker is speaking directly to black voters, just reminder, black voters are 25% of the democratic hardy. impossible to have a path to victory in this primary without enthusiastic support of black people and black women in particular. i think elevating trans rights , you know,ation that both senator booker and julian castro are acknowledging the diversity in the community, and they are speaking broadly not individuals,lgbtq

but recognizing the intersectional nature of the issues. some of the issues, the environment or other -- the economy, without putting a racial justice or gender justice lens on these issues, they fall flat. lgbtq, not just support gay marriage, but to bring in a racial lens, shows senator booker is both speaking to the base but also showing in his bit of complexity understanding of the issue. i think it was a great moment in american politics. nermeen: i want to go back to anand giridharadas on the issue of climate change again. -- i want to go back to varshini prakash on the issue of climate change again. the green new deal was not mentioned. we have 30 seconds. >> it was another disappointing moment. we were hoping one of the candidates would mention it and also tonight considering tens of thousands of young people have been out: for a green new deal

with demonstration after demonstration, and that authorization about the green new deal has largely upheld -- pushed, change to the top on the democratic side. we will certainly be looking for that tonight. amy: we want to thank you all for being with us varshini , prakash, founder of sunrise movement. ana maria archila, co-executive director of the center for popular democracy. aimee allison is president of democracy in color and founder of she the people. anand giridharadas, is editor and chief at time magazine. his new book is "winners take all: the elite charade of changing the world." >> i want to be clear, i do not run that magazine. amy: tomorrow we will cover the second debate tonight in miami.

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," climate change is forcing traditional dairy producers to look for more sustainable methods. in central california, farmers have found ways to reduce and even reuse

ways to reduce and even reuse